Public service workers are not happy.

The number of unionized Crown employee complaints nearly doubled last fiscal year — from 2,924 in 2020-21 to 5,375 in 2021-22. Last year's total was the highest amount of any year in publicly available statistics, dating back to 2013.

The numbers come from Ontario's Crown Employees Grievance Settlement Board's 2021-22 annual report. Christine Caillier, the board's registrar, said the increase was mostly due to COVID-19.

"So mostly (the grievances will) say, like, COVID management rights and discrimination. But the grievances themselves might have more detail on the actual form," she said.

The increase was mainly driven by a huge spike in March of this year. That's when the government ordered public service employees back to the office for at least three days a week, starting the next month.

"And of course, as a result of probably that and other things, COVID grievances were on the rise," Caillier said.

There were 2,134 complaints filed in March, a month that also saw threats of a strike from the union's college staff (though that was averted).

The next-highest monthly total from the past three years is 797, from June, 2020. That time period, just a few months out from the beginning of the pandemic, saw controversy over which public workers got a COVID pay bump.

Many OPSEU members have also raised concerns about mandatory COVID vaccinations and testing. Former OPSEU president Smokey Thomas penned a 2021 letter to his membership asking them to listen to the science and get their shots.

LiUNA Local 506 lawyer Ryan Ehrenworth, whose local's complaints also go to the board, said that's likely part of the reason for the spike.

"But there are other hot topics as well," he said, including privacy concerns about technology in the workplace, more awareness about human rights issues and workplace violence.

"We are also in a period of record low unemployment where the demand for workers often exceeds the supply. This may contribute to a feeling amongst employees that they no longer need tolerate their employers’ malfeasance on the threat of wrongful dismissal or illegal reprisal."

Crown Employees Grievance Settlement Board 2021-22 annual report.

The majority of grievances are filed by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. But the board also handles complaints from locals for CUPE, Metrolinx, the Association of Management Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO), and more.

An AMAPCEO source said it'd be hard for the union to speak to why the spike happened, since OPSEU makes up the "vast bulk" of complaints.

OPSEU President J.P. Hornick blamed the Ford government.

"It comes as no great surprise that there would be a spike in grievances these past two years," she said in a statement. "After years of below-inflation wage increases, short-staffing, burnout and then COVID, OPSEU/SEFPO members are taking a stand – for themselves and for the public services they provide."

She said workplace concerns are growing, and that the government should resolve them so members aren't "forced to file grievances" in the first place.

"Our members, like all workers, deserve a healthy and safe workplace. As a union we will continue to support them, whether in bargaining or through the grievance process," she said.

Labour Minister Monte McNaughton's office passed questions to the ministry, which declined to comment.

"The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development must act as a neutral overseer of the labour relations process in Ontario and cannot comment on specific labour relations matters," spokesperson Anu Dhar said in a statement.

Caillier said she expects the number of grievances to go down now that the world is slowly returning to normal.

"Yes, definitely. Or at least, I hope so," she said with a laugh.

Crown employee grievances spiked after the government sent them back to the office

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