Laval, Monday, December 10, 2001 – The Overflow Unit, created to cope with the Emergency Room at the Cit 0064e la Sant,0020will be closed as of December 17, 2001. This measure was decided by the institution’s board of directors and passed “within the framework of the new budget required by the Ministry (Health and Social Services) in order to balance the budget.”
Denis Bl0061nger, President of CUPE Local 2105, which represents about 1,100 employees at the Cit 0064e la Sant,0020explains that “because of the budget, the Ministry will provoke an overflow at the Emergency Room in the next few weeks.” There will be no joy at the Cit 0064e la Sant 0074his Christmas. “Not only will this decision deprive the population of a service to which it has a right, but this type of decision also saps the morale of the employees. The employees are working hard to make the system work. Everyone is pitching in. But, sometimes I have the impression that we are being asked to row backwards.”
Besides reducing access to front-line medical care, the closing of the Overflow Unit will affect between 15 to 20 employees. “Our hearts are not going to be filled with joy because we have to meet with the Human Resources Department this week to decide how to apply the measures that will affect our members ”, adds Denis Bl0061nger.
Besides the employees at Laval’s Cit 0064e la Sant,0020CUPE represents about 20,000 members in the health and social services sectors in Quebec. With almost 100,000 members in Quebec, CUPE is also the largest QFL affiliate.
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SOURCE: CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES (QFL)