The conflict escalates within the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec the day after a demonstration aimed at denouncing the obligation imposed on staff at the Drummondville hospital to work a weekend on three.
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The union convened two extraordinary general meetings on Monday to discuss the next pressure tactics.
The decision of the Administrative Labor Tribunal, which deemed the threat of wholesale resignations illegal, only added fuel to the fire according to the confidences of several employees.
In Drummondville, the new measure of compulsory work on weekends affected eleven people.
“It will gradually increase. We had a potential recovery, as it is a weekend in three. Next week, the measure affects fourteen people, the following week … a little more, ”explains the deputy president and CEO, Nathalie Boisvert.
But since Sunday, other services have also been greatly affected by a reorganization of the schedule. This is the case for home care nurses who now have to work seven days.
A plan revealed too soon?
A leaked document also raises a wave of indignation. Employees got their hands on the plan drawn up by the CIUSSS which evokes the abolition of positions, service mergers to gain shifts and the closure of certain services. The CIUSSS mentioned that this is only a scenario under study and that no position has been abolished for the moment.
Could the Minister of Health be called upon to intervene? Last January, he appointed an external mediator in the conflict at Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.
“We have of course heard their concerns in recent weeks. We are also aware that there are significant issues in recruiting personnel. Institutions must find solutions to ensure that all patients have access to quality care, despite the current challenges. They must do this while reducing the use of the TSO and this is what the CIUSSS de la Mauricie–Centre-du-Québec strives to do. In the longer term, we want to improve the conditions of our employees and that will go through the new collective agreement, ”commented the office of the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Bolduc.
No meeting between the union and the CIUSSS MCQ is planned for the moment. Several employees have changed their profile picture on social networks to an image of a muzzled person.