The Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS-CSN) maintains that the Legault government is implementing a hiring freeze in the public flying team, which helps regions with a serious shortage of health personnel. Health Minister Christian Dubé and Santé Québec refute this information.
Posted at 11:56 a.m.
The FSSS-CSN denounces this hiring freeze in a press release issued Thursday morning. Its president Réjean Leclerc believes that the Legault government “makes commitments, makes announcements” and “improvises” when implementing them.
“If we freeze hiring while we have dire needs, what will happen next? he asks. The situation will deteriorate in the same regions [Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord et Outaouais]. There will be service closures. There will be care that will not be provided. The population will be forced to move [pour recevoir des services]. »
The Union of Nursing and Cardiorespiratory Care Professionals at CHU Sainte-Justine (CSN) claims to have learned of this hiring freeze from its employer on Wednesday. Approximately 75 nurses from the establishment work on the public flying team.
“The employer told us that there was a hiring freeze for the moment at the level of the category 1 flying team [infirmières, inhalothérapeutes, etc.] and we noticed at the same time as on the Quebec government website that the positions posted since June were no longer there,” says its president Élisabeth Gagnon Tremblay.
Same story from the Union of Workers of the CISSS de la Montérégie Centre-CSN, around forty members of which are part of the flying team. “The employer told us yesterday at the beginning of the afternoon that there was a hiring and deployment freeze,” said its president Julien Houle. The Ministry of Health would carry out a “needs assessment”, he reports.
Thursday morning, no available positions appeared on the government website of the public flying team, it was noted The Press.
No hiring freeze, according to the minister
The Minister of Health Christian Dubé was quick to react on the X network to refute this information. “Let’s be very clear: flying teams are here to stay. There is no hiring freeze for flying teams. »
Santé Québec indicates for its part that recruitment continues. “We currently have a large number of potential applications in our systems, including more than a hundred under evaluation,” says spokesperson Jean-Nicolas Aubé. External postings will gradually resume when new applications are required. »
According to Santé Québec, the public flying team hired 170 people who lent a helping hand in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, on the North Shore and in Outaouais. The people in office “continue their respective mandates”, specifies the agency.
