CIPP team meets with City Manager Wendy Stephanson to discuss hybrid work.

Executive Director Peter Bleyer and the CIPP labour relations team met with City Manager Wendy Stephanson to discuss hybrid work. Yesterday, CIPP had an initial meeting with the City on our policy grievance on the Employer’s failure to consult before issuing the August 26 memo from the City Manager calling for a “return to five days in office standard” starting in January 2026. 

In both meetings we expressed our members’ deep frustration and disappointment not only with the decision and how it was communicated, but also with the lack of transparency and the failure to consult with the union. 

We underlined the chaos and confusion for CIPP members that the memo initiated and that continues to this day.  

In our meeting with the City Manager, we once again challenged the vague rationale given for the decision. We shared our concerns that the sudden interest in improving “workplace culture” appeared to be politically motivated by Premier Doug Ford’s decision to bring provincial employees back to the office five days a week. And we emphasized that what has happened in the last few weeks has done tremendous damage to staff morale. 

We questioned the need to re-establish a “five day in office standard”, given that City employees not working from the office five days a week must have approved Alternative Work Arrangements (AWAs). And we reminded the employer of their obligations and our members’ rights under the Collective Agreement, including that hybrid work requests should not be unreasonably denied.  

Most importantly, we clearly set out our expectations for the City Manager to repair the damage done to date. We asked her to act on City Council’s motion calling on her to encourage her leadership team to maintain current hybrid working arrangements of employees. Specifically, we suggested that all existing AWAs should be renewed or extended through 2026. And that the City Manager move quickly to provide guidance to managers on how to best implement this direction without any additional and unnecessary one-on-one meetings to review existing AWAs.  

If these agreements met operational requirements a few weeks ago (and years before that), it stands to reason that they still do.  We believe that CIPP professionals, and their managers, should be allowed to keep their focus on delivering results for Ottawa’s residents.  

While we appreciated the City Manager’s reassurance that our collective agreement would be respected, we underlined the high level of concern and dissatisfaction that CIPP members are feeling. We confirmed that we had already heard from hundreds of members who were considering filing grievances on this issue and that we were prepared to take whatever further steps were required to support them.  

In our grievance meeting yesterday, we underlined the impact of the employer’s repeated false assertions that they had consulted with CIPP. Along with an acknowledgment of the employer’s failure to consult and a commitment to consult going forward, we asked for the immediate reinstatement or extension of all current AWAs as a remedy to resolve the grievance. 

What’s next? 

We will continue to keep you informed of developments between CIPP and the City of Ottawa. 

We know that CIPP members are continuing to receive confusing and often frustrating responses from their managers. Help us to hold management accountable while we push for a positive resolution.  

We encourage all CIPP members with an AWA to fill out our Hybrid Work Status form if they have not done so already. Or if they have had changes or responses to their AWA request, to fill out the form a second time to update their information.  

If you are a CIPP member and you have recently received a decision cancelling or rejecting a request for an AWA please also email connect@cipp.on.ca if you would like to explore filing a grievance.