High confusion over move to Glen site, warns McGill University Hospital Centre union

MONTREAL, April 9, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Lack of training, contradictory instructions, incomplete information and improvisation – this is the situation that awaits the imminent move of McGill University Hospital Centre staff and patients to the new facility at the Glen, say leaders of the MUHC's largest union.

During a noon-hour demonstration in front of the soon-to-be-closed Royal Victoria Hospital today, the president of the MUHC Employees' Union (CSN), Paul Thomas, called on senior managers to work with middle management to ensure the move goes as smoothly as possible. The first stage of the move begins April 26.

"We need this to work," said Thomas. "But we have seen different messages between different levels of management. We are continually bombarded with contradictory or incomplete information."

The union president, who represents almost 5000 employees at the MUHC, noted that work schedules seem to be in constant flux. Meanwhile middle managers "say they can do what they want with our schedules, despite negotiated agreements."

Food transportation is another question, said MUHCEU Secretary-General Mary Ann Davis. The plan is to truck food from the Montreal General Hospital to the Neuro, which will not be moving to the Glen, but employees will be using new equipment for which they have yet to receive training. In addition, there will be one fewer cook to handle the demand.

"There is high anxiety among kitchen staff right now," Davis said. "Everyone is getting more and more stressed."

In clerical, Davis said employees are lacking instruction on work methods after the move, and that patients are beginning to get irritated because staff do not have the information to respond to questions.

"What floor do they go to for imaging? Where is the equipment? Where is the photocopier? They don't which doctor will be working where and when," said Davis.

Paul Thomas said that staff have received a general orientation in the new facilities, but many questions remain amid what appears to be resistance from middle management.

"Some people are not engaged in this process. But we need to know how this is going to work. The stakes are too high," he warned.

SOURCE CSN

Lyle Stewart, CSN communications service, 514 796-2066