Health workers claim vacation pay
Health workers claim vacation pay
A dozen unionized employees of the Outaouais health network demonstrated in front of the Shawville Hospital Monday afternoon to criticize the vacation package offered by the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) of the Outaouais, or two weeks of vacation for each worker.
“This offer is unacceptable and disrespectful for workers who have acquired all their weeks of vacation hard,” read the notice of the demonstration.
The Outaouais – CSN union of health and social services workers, Josée McMillan, criticizes the CISSS for “hiding” behind a ministerial order, in effect since March, which allows managers to modify staff schedules according to the needs of establishments in the context of COVID-19.
“The collective agreement is clear,” she explained. There are four weeks for everyone who has worked for a year to accumulate their vacation. We do not understand that the [CISSS de l’Outaouais] will refuse workers who have worked for a year to have these vacations. ”
Ms. McMillan also referred to the fact that fewer than five cases have been identified in the Pontiac local service network (RLS), all in the municipality of Pontiac.
Recall that Quebec announced at the end of May that health personnel could take vacations during the summer, but that two-week sequences would be prioritized in the areas most affected by the virus in order to avoid breakage of services.
Discussions are underway between the union and the CISSS de l’Outaouais in order to find common ground in this situation. The management of the establishment also indicated last Friday that the possibility of granting three weeks to the employees is currently under study. Josée McMillan hopes to get an answer on this subject at the end of the day on Tuesday. According to her, this proposal would be “reasonable” for the workers, since the majority of them take a three-week vacation during the summer.
