Laval health-care workers' union 'dumbfounded' by hiring freeze for 565 positions

A health-care worker in Laval, Que. (Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press)

Nathalie Bourque was getting ready to post job listings at the Laval health and social services centre (CISSS de Laval) on Tuesday night when she got a call from human resources saying there would be a hiring freeze on vacant positions.

The president of the union representing workers at the CISSS de Laval (FSSS–CSN) said she was “insulted and dumbfounded” by the news given to her the night before approved postings were meant to go live. She confirmed about 565 positions won’t be filled, with no timeline as to when the CISSS will start hiring again.

“It’s a shame,” she said. “The government keeps saying there are staff shortages and high demand, Legault keeps trying to appeal to students, and now we have a hiring freeze.”

Bourque was told the freeze was necessary while the CISSS’s structural organization goes under review. Quebec said it wants to reshape the health-care network to reduce a deficit totalling more than $1 billion.

The hiring freeze is in place for all categories of employees like nurses and caretakers, but also technicians, cleaners in charge of sterilization, and cooks — jobs Bourque said are already precarious but crucial to the functioning of a hospital.

“If you don’t have anyone in the kitchen, your patients aren’t getting fed,” she said.

Bourque said that this summer, the government already started slashing jobs associated with the increase in need during the pandemic.

“The structural cleanup has already happened,” she said. “These job postings are mostly vacant jobs. The work is being spread out among employees who were just waiting to have someone fill in and help them.”

Now Bourque said she’s worried the CISSS Laval will have to work with the bare minimum in terms of staff and resources.

She accused the provincial government of wearing rose-tinted glasses while it “strips public services to invest into the private sector,” something she considers to be “unacceptable” because not everyone has the means to get private care.

“Those are services for the rich that profit the rich,” said Bourque. “The public network is accessible to everyone, and that’s a decision we made as a society.”

Quebec is planning to force new doctors trained in the province to work in Quebec's public health-care system for the first few years of their practice. Earlier this month, Health Minister Christian Dubé said he would “wean” the health-care system off the private sector, but has since backpedaled. Just last week, he said he wants every Quebecer to have access to a health professional by the summer of 2026.

CTV News reached out to the Health Ministry for comment but has not heard back.

But while they wait for the CISSS to review its structure, employees are worried their jobs are on the line, said Bourque. Others are so overworked with no relief in sight that they’re considering leaving altogether.

“They’re crying, they’re unsure about the future, they’re worried they’ll be out of a job,” she said.

“Meanwhile Minister Dubé says 'We’re a top employer, come work for us, we need you,'” she scoffed. “The boat is sinking.”