CHUM employees' union and other allies denounce job cuts

The CHUM in Montreal, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

At around the same time as the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) government announced a recruitment freeze in the public service, 26 orderly positions and seven administrative officer positions were cut at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM).

Certain departments were to be excluded from the government's measure to curb the growth in the number of employees in the public service, including healthcare establishments.

The CHUM employees' union (SECHUM-CSN) confirmed on Monday morning that the job cuts “were imposed as part of the government's budget recovery policies.”

It is joining forces with the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS-CSN), the Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain (CCMM-CSN) and Québec solidaire's health spokesperson Vincent Marissal to demand that the jobs cut be reinstated at the hospital.

They are also calling on the CAQ to stop cutting spending on health and social services.

The president of the CHUM employees' union, Anick Mailhot, denounced in a press release that the cuts mean that the workload is piling up for the care staff still in post.

“The ratio of attendants has fallen from four to three on all care units, including emergency. We've already noticed an increase in incidents and accidents,” she laments.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 11, 2024.