(Montreal) Former health workers in West Montreal had their recent pay equity payment denied by the bank, after the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal ruled to cancel without notice to the recipients nearly 500 checks, denounces the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ.
Posted at 6:46 p.m.
A combination of incorrect mailing addresses and reports of fraud would have led the CIUSSS to make this decision, according to the explanations provided to CUPE Local 2881, which notably represents beneficiary attendants, service aides and food service attendants. .
“We have several ex-workers who called us, including one in panic, because their check had bounced,” said the interim president of the local, Fanny Demontigny, to The Canadian Press.
Some have therefore found themselves with NSF check fees of several tens of dollars.
A spokesperson for the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Hélène Bergeron-Gamache, confirmed in a written statement that 497 pay equity checks intended for former employees had to be cancelled.
“A human error in the sending process forced us to reverse the monies paid due to a high risk of fraud,” she wrote.
“An information letter was sent yesterday to all those affected by this unfortunate situation. If bank charges have been incurred, they will be refunded. We are putting in place all the necessary measures to limit the impact of this situation on the people affected as much as possible. A telephone line has also been activated to support them and answer their questions,” added the spokesperson.
“Our teams are mobilized and can be reached by telephone from Monday July 11 in order to answer questions from these former employees, confirm their identity and contact details, and quickly send them a new check”, also indicated Mr.me Bergeron-Gamache.
The sum of the checks, sent in June and which result from the exercise of maintaining pay equity in 2010, could go up to $4,000 per worker, maintains for his part Mr.me Demontigny.
“I can’t even believe that for a large CIUSSS things like this happen, especially in health. The workers are tired and exhausted. They gave their all during the pandemic. […] This is good proof of how we are not taking care of workers in the health network,” laments the union leader.
“We want a second check to be sent to them as soon as possible. What we are also asking for is an apology in a letter. This is unacceptable,” said Mr.me Demontigny.
According to the union, this “new mess” is in addition to other errors that have affected pay in recent months and to the various delays in payment resulting from the conclusion of the last collective agreement.
Labor shortage: “worse and worse”
The situation comes as the labor shortage has worsened since the beginning of the summer in several establishments of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’île-de-Montréal, worries CUPE, which calls for incentives to retain and hire staff.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” says Mme Demontigny.
The last two long weekends have been “particularly difficult” with, among others, beneficiary and kitchen attendants who missed the call, reports the union, reporting various unfortunate examples for users and hospital employees. and CHSLDs.
“During the Saint-Jean weekend, our cafeterias at St. Mary’s and at Sainte-Anne’s Hospital were closed due to lack of staff. We have a lot of floors practically exposed. We had (at the General Hospital) Lakeshore a night shift with only one beneficiary attendant for 40 residents. It’s inhuman”, describes Mme Demontigny.
These episodes lead the union to fear that the situation could become even more difficult during the construction holidays at the end of July and the beginning of August.
The union wants financial measures to get through the summer season. He suggests a return to the double rate for overtime and the accumulation of half-days of vacation for people agreeing to work additional shifts, incentives having been put in place by Quebec at the start of the year for the fifth wave. of COVID-19 and ending in April.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchanges and The Canadian Press for the news.