Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante promises to investigate allegations by former and current employees of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), who have reported a toxic work climate within paramunicipal organization, since President Isabelle Beaulieu took office last year.
“We learned of the allegations, of what is happening that there would be a toxic climate. This is extremely worrying because regardless of the workplace, we want it to be a healthy workplace, but also because the OCPM is an organization in which we believe and which does a lot to improve projects. of the City of Montreal,” said Ms. Plante Friday on the sidelines of a press conference in the borough of Ville-Marie.
Created in 2002, the OCPM is an independent organization responsible for conducting public consultations on matters submitted to it by the city council or the city’s executive committee.
“We are looking at what our intervention will be, but what is certain is that if there is a toxic climate, it has to stop,” added Ms. Plante. “We will have to investigate”, added the mayor, who then reacted to a report published Thursday in the newspaper Subway addressing the prevailing work climate at the OCPM.
Several departures
Joined by The duty, several current employees or those who have recently left the ranks of the OCPM have anonymously denounced the work climate within this organization, whose annual budget, paid by the City, fluctuated in 2021 around $2.35 million . At the heart of the situations denounced is President Isabelle Beaulieu, who succeeded Dominique Ollivier as head of the OCPM in February 2022 after the latter’s election with Projet Montréal and her appointment as president of the executive committee.
In recent months, six permanent employees have left the ranks of the OCPM, according to the testimonies collected. Several of them claim to have been victims of a “disguised layoff” after criticizing the management style of Ms. Beaulieu, who took office when the organization was celebrating its 20th anniversary.
“The climate with Ms. Beaulieu was excessively difficult upon her arrival in February”, notes a former employee, who reports the “micro management” of the president and a “control of internal communications”.
“There was a lot of condescension, passive-aggressive,” adds this source. At a point where “it became very difficult to coordinate a 20th anniversary” under the leadership of Ms. Beaulieu, adds this source, who finally resigned after having worked for several years within the OCPM. The organization has also made several hires in recent months, in particular to compensate for certain employee departures.
“I ended up leaving voluntarily, but it was because the work climate had become unhealthy,” adds another former employee of the organization. The latter deplores the increased workload that was placed on the shoulders of the employees on the sidelines of the arrival of Ms. Beaulieu, who then began five public consultations in the space of a few months, which had never been seen at the OCPM, according to its president.
“It’s something that was asked of me by the city council to start five public consultations when I was hired,” explains Ms. Beaulieu, who ensures that hires were then made to fulfill the mandates submitted by the City. “It went very well,” says the president of the OCPM, who was “very surprised” by the criticism she received from former and current employees of the organization.
“We have a lot of work at the office, more work than usual, but frankly, the internal climate is really good,” insists Ms. Beaulieu, who claims to have carried out “no layoffs” since her arrival in job.
Working conditions
Employees who used to take extended holidays during the summer to compensate for the overtime accumulated during the rest of the year, for their part, recounted having been refused last year under the leadership of Ms. Beaulieu, under pretext that the OCPM needed them during this period. As soon as she took office, the president would have insisted on the importance of improving the performance of the organization, according to our sources.
However, “who is she to say that what we have been doing at the office for 20 years is not good? “says a former employee, who denounces the” condescending “way that Ms. Beaulieu would have to manage the employees of the OCPM.
An employee who was fired before the end of his probationary period filed a complaint with the Standards, Equity, Health and Safety Commission because he believes he was the victim of wrongful dismissal. This complaint was deemed admissible. “I could be rehired, but I don’t want to go back to work there”, adds this source, who rather wanted to “try to obtain a semblance of justice” by denouncing the circumstances surrounding his layoff.
Current and former employees of the OCPM also deplore the lack of job security enjoyed by the workers of this independent organization, who do not have the same protections as the city’s unionized employees.
Isabelle Beaulieu, for her part, affirms on the contrary that the working conditions have improved at the OCPM since her arrival in office. “We have considerably increased insurance coverage, in particular to include the dentist. We pay for a public transport card for people who do five days of work at the office, ”lists the president. “And everyone got a pay raise. »
With Jeanne Corriveau