Instead of hiring an arbitrator to calm the emergency room crisis at Montreal’s Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital, the health secretary should instead opt for a rule that would limit the number of hours worked like in trucking, says the president of the Union of Care Professionals of the East of the Island of Montreal.
In an interview with QUB radio on Wednesday morning, Denis Cloutier explained Tuesday’s meeting with a mediator was “cordial” but there was “a bit of drama in it”.
“The mediator herself, after a few hours of discussion, asked herself whether her mandate was not over, since there is no real discussion problem between us and the management party,” he said at the microphone of Philippe-Vincent Foisy.
He recalled that the problem was the lack of staff: “We are talking about a shortage. I don’t have enough nurses. We cannot change something overnight by playing around with schedules or having discussions between the manager and the local union.”
For the President of the Union of Care Professionals of the East-of-the-Island-of-Montreal, Health Secretary Christian Dubé should be inspired by the trucking industry rather than micromanaged, and limiting the number of hours worked.
“At some point there should be something in legislation that prevents the use of forced overtime or limits the number of hours worked to ensure a secure supply,” he said, believing it “would be a responsible stance on the part of government.”
“It’s the kind of initiative I would expect from a minister, rather than appointing a mediator between a union and a local manager who lacks the financial means, to create more attraction where the world is most lacking.”