‘Buy Nothing’: Union Tells Federal Workers to Protest Forced Office Return by Boycotting Ottawa Businesses

People make their way along Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa on June 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The union for public workers has called on federal employees to boycott downtown Ottawa businesses as a way to protest their forced return to government offices.

In a Sept. 11 post on Instagram, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) urged members not to buy anything on days when they are at downtown offices.

By evening, the post no longer appeared to be online.

A union Instagram post that is no longer online calls on federal workers returning to the office to "pack a lunch and minimize spending."

The federal government announced in April that public servants were expected to be in the workplace at least three days per week by Sept. 9.

“Members of Canada’s business community have been calling on the federal government to bring employees back to the office for years,” the PSAC post said.

“The needs of the downtown core shouldn’t fall on the backs of workers and the federal public service. How workers spend their money on in-office days will send a clear message to politicians.”

PSAC advised members to pack a lunch, buy from small local businesses, and support neighbourhood businesses.

“Our members cannot be responsible for revitalizing the downtown core,” the social media post said.

The union said the move should show politicians they cannot leverage public servants’ working conditions “to appease commercial interests.”

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was disappointed in the union.

“I’m very disappointed to see [PSAC] targeting small businesses in their dispute with the federal government,” he said in a Sept. 11 post on the X platform.

“Downtown businesses are not responsible for decisions about back to work. They’ve suffered significantly as a result of the pandemic,” he said.

Sutcliffe said businesses should be kept “out of the line of fire.” He encouraged support for business and a thriving downtown.

The Ottawa Board of Trade (OBOT) also called the boycott campaign “disappointing.”

“The PSAC’s Buy Nothing Campaign is disappointing. But our public servants are also committed residents who know that supporting our family, friends and neighbours who work at or own local businesses is what makes Ottawa so great,” said the OBOT in a post on X.

PSAC’s move comes after a decision by the Federal Court to hold a full court hearing on the union’s application to overturn Ottawa’s back-to-office mandate.

The union called the decision an “important win for federal workers,” in an Aug. 30 news release.

No hearing date has been scheduled.

In June, PSAC said that 91 percent of its members were opposed to the government mandate.

Ottawa said having public workers return to the office for at least three days a week will restore confidence in government services and establish a consistent approach to hybrid work.