Canada’s largest public-sector union has a new national president, who says she is committed to carrying on with the fight against the government’s policy to have its members working more often in the office.
Sharon DeSousa, who has been a national executive vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, picked up Thursday where her predecessor Chris Aylward, who promised a “summer of discontent” over the issue, left off.
“I am definitely going to keep that fight up,” Ms. DeSousa said. “I want to create a new frontier of remote work and that’s something that our members want to see.”
Ottawa wants federal public servants back in the office in the fall for a minimum three days a week, up from two. It’s a demand that has prompted PSAC and other public-sector unions to promise a fight over a measure they deem unfair.
Mr. Aylward, who had held the PSAC leadership post since 2018, declined to seek re-election as more than 600 delegates attended the union’s national triennal convention.
Ms. DeSousa was voted in with 375 votes compared to 177 votes for her nearest rival. She first became a civil servant in 1998, joining Human Resources Development Canada. She became an elected member of PSAC’s leadership in 2011. Prior to becoming national president this week she was a national executive vice president for the union.
Ms. DeSousa, the first racialized national president of PSAC, which represents 245,000 workers across Canada, including federal public-service workers, as well as provincial territorial and municipal workers, was born in Pakistan and raised in Toronto.
At a news conference earlier this month, Mr. Aylward, appearing with leaders of several federal public-sector unions, promised a “summer of discontent” over the issue.
Four unions at the news conference said they would push back at the new rules with legal actions, as well as through a tide of grievances from workers, but did not offer details.
Mr. Aylward led PSAC through a 12-day strike last year that shut down a range of government services before it was settled with a four-year agreement with federal public-sector unions.
In an interview, Ms. DeSousa said PSAC will ramp up its actions, but declined to get into details over union strategies under her leadership to counter the hybrid-work approach of the federal government.
She said it appears the federal government is trying to take working conditions for public servants back to prepandemic days.
“We do not want to go back to the whole ‘butts in a chair’ thinking that’s productive because it’s not,” she said. “We want to change how work is being done.”
Asked about the perspective she will bring to PSAC as a racialized person, Ms. DeSousa noted that, under her leadership, the organization will be bringing in an anti-racism program for the union.
“We want to make sure that PSAC is an anti-racist union so that’s part of the work I plan to do,” she said.
She said her identities as a woman and racialized person inform her perspective. “I am who I am so I will be bringing my lived experience and lens to the organization,” she said.
A spokesperson for Treasury Board President Anita Anand, asked for comment on Ms. DeSousa’s election, said the minister remains focused on working with unions.
“The Minister and our team have met on several occasions with union leaders from across the public service to discuss issues of concern,” said a statement issued by Myah Tomasi, a press secretary to Ms. Anand.
“Our government will continue to prioritize the delivery of high-quality services while ensuring prudent management of taxpayer dollars.”
Editor’s note: (May 31, 2024): This article has been updated to clarify Sharon DeSousa's professional background and history with PSAC.