CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Aug. 5, 2020
Recent changes and cuts to the hours of security personnel at the Pontiac Community Hospital (PCH) has raised the ire of at least one local employee.
The staffer, who asked for anonymity since he is still employed at the hospital, said that he was shocked to find out . . .
in June that his hours had been cut back from 12 hours per shift (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) to around eight hours (9 p.m. to 5:15 a.m.).
“This week I only got 30 some hours,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the job, I love the place, I love the people, but I can’t stay [with this schedule].”
The source said that he was previously employed with a private company contracted by the local health authority, CISSSO, but now they are moving to having guards employed directly by the organization.
PCH coordinator Gilbert Daoust, speaking to The Equity on July 24, said that the move was made to save money.
“The CISSSO decided to create two permanent positions as employees for the CISSSO for security guards,” he explained. “They reduced the hours, because we noted that the 12-hour coverage was probably not necessary, but an eight-hour coverage would be more affordable.
“Right now, we have one position that’s filled up, the other position is not,” he continued. “Meanwhile, we still do contracts with the private sector to ensure the service, until we get the second person as a permanent employee of the CISSSO for the Shawville area.”
The source, who has worked under various private security contractors at the hospital for more than a decade, said that the new guard positions with CISSSO come with more duties and stricter testing for things like French.
“As far as the CISSSO thing with their guards, it’s totally different from what we were doing,” he said. “Everybody calls us wannabe cops, well I don’t want to be a cop. I can see what they’re doing now, they want to get rid of us.”
He added that while his hours have been cut, the CISSSO has stationed a guard at the entrances of the hospital, including the employee entrance, for 24 hours a day.
“The main entrances I can see, but the where the employees go in? No, that’s coming out of your and my pocket,” he said.
Daoust said that the guards were contracted as part of a directive that came from the provincial government, and CISSSO was just doing what they were ordered to do.
“They’re there to ensure these rules are respected, especially in a hospital facility,” he said. “It’s only a temporary measure until the COVID-19 situation gets lighter.”
The source said that he sees the changes to his position as just another cut to the services at the hospital, enacted by the higher ups in Gatineau.
“I’m tired of getting [pushed] around,” he said.
