Royal Victoria Hospital employees want answers from MUHC

MONTREAL — It may have looked like a party, but Royal Victoria Hospital workers were out on the street Thursday to protest what they call a lack of transparency by the MUHC.

“Members are going to their management, they’re asking questions and they’re saying, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,'” said Mary Ann Davis, MUHC Employee Union Secretary General.

“Two weeks before a major move like this when you have patient care in your hands, you should know what’s going on.”

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Some employees say they don’t know where they’re going, what they’re doing or even if they’ll have a job after the move.

“You can’t treat workers that way,” said Davis.

“Management stands in front of us and they tell us, ‘We want to work as a team.’ Well, you’re not working as a team if you’re not giving the other party the information that they need to work with you.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Management stands in front of us and they tell us, 'We want to work as a team.' Well, you're not working as a team if you're not giving the other party the information that they need to work with you."

The unions don’t represent the people we usually think of when visiting a hospital.

READ MORE: #AskMUHC: Overview of the move to the Glen Site

They’re not the doctors and nurses, but the clerical staff, the cleaners and even the chefs in the cafeteria.

Anna Maria Santos has been working as a transfer attendant at the Royal Victoria for 33 years.

READ MORE: Pedestrian tunnel won’t open in time for MUHC hospital

“It’s not fun going to a new place and not knowing anything, not knowing if our jobs are set and so, that’s why everybody’s frustrated,” she told Global News.

“We don’t know anything. Nobody tells us anything.”

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But the MUHC insists everything is on track for the big move.

READ MORE: MUHC prepares for big move to super hospital

“Are we where we’re supposed to be? Yes. Are we moving the 26 of April? Yes,” said Joanne Brodeur, MUHC Director of Human Resources.

“All the employees will have all the training they need to have to provide the same service over there.”

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Brodeur says the employees will be provided with all the essential information when the right time comes.

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The union represents about 5,000 workers.

Fifty people showed up to the BBQ-inspired demonstration.

READ MORE: #AskMUHC: the new Cedars Cancer Centre will consolidate most services in one building

“Cleanliness, support, answers from the management have been lacking because the focus has been on the Glen,” said Dominic Nelson, a Montreal General Hospital administrative technician.

The Royal Victoria Hospital will relocate to the Glen Site on April 26.

rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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