The CISSS de Laval suspends the posting of 569 positions, including those of nurses, “to evaluate” its “organizational needs”. This approach is being carried out “as part of the return to a balanced budget and the recruitment freeze decreed by the government”, he specifies in an internal press release, including The Press got a copy.
Posted at 6:23 p.m.
The health establishment says it is analyzing “different options” to achieve Quebec’s objectives. The suspension is “temporary”, according to the CISSS de Laval.
In interview at The Pressinterim deputy general director Sylvie Mireault specifies that 400 internal positions, 154 external positions and 15 management positions are affected. The analysis of “organizational needs” will begin on Thursday.
“We will ask the directors “does your job posting help balance the budget, the withdrawal of independent labor, the reduction of overtime, the elimination of compulsory overtime and is it that your job posting, therefore filling this position, will allow me to maintain my service offering and ensure access?” » she explains.
Sylvie Mireault, also director of human resources, maintains that she does not have in mind a number of positions to be removed from postings. The analysis will end next week.
A major clean-up is taking place in the public health network. In an interview with The Press On Wednesday, the CEO of Santé Québec, Geneviève Biron, said she wanted to eliminate the anticipated budget deficit for health establishments of around a billion dollars. She asked the CIUSSS and CISSS “to respect their budget, restrict development”.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Geneviève Biron, CEO of Santé Québec
Read our article “Mission: save 1 billion”
At the end of October, the Treasury Board announced a recruitment freeze in the public service to “slow down the growth in the number of employees” and “respect allocated budgets”. Quebec plans to record a historic deficit of 11 billion.
In force since 1is November, this recruitment freeze must only apply to administrative staff in the health network. But the CISSS de Laval is also suspending the posting of clinical positions.
“Because we also have the objective of balancing the budget, because we also have the desire to reduce the number of hours worked and to allocate limited human resources to places where it will make a difference for the population, I have to analyze the posting of positions to allow me to choose which ones will have an immediate positive impact, according to my priorities, which is access to surgery, on the front line,” affirms Sylvie Mireault.
Unions stunned
The president of the Union of Nurses, Respiratory Therapists and Practical Nurses of Laval (SIIIAL-CSQ) says that the news has caused consternation among its approximately 3,400 members.
According to Déreck Cyr, the posting of at least 200 positions for nurses, practical nurses and respiratory therapists is suspended. “For us, it is still serious because there is a lack of personnel to [offrir] direct care, there are employees on mandatory overtime,” he says. He deplores “that we are once again attacking workers who provide direct care to the population”.
The shock is the same within the Union of Workers of the CISSS de Laval-CSN, which has around 5,600 members, including beneficiary and maintenance attendants, intervention agents and administrative agents.
According to its president, Nathalie Bourque, approximately 240 positions are affected in these categories of workers. “There are already members who ask us “is my position going to be abolished?” They are all afraid. » Some of them occupy the position of employees who have just retired.
