March 7, 2019

The Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de l’Outaouais (SPSO) is demanding that a meeting be held as soon as possible with the CISSO interim administration and its team. The union will attend the board of directors meeting on March 7 in the evening to present this formal request.

“Our union has stepped up its interventions over the last few months to foster retention, reduce the workload and move the local negotiations forward. Many of our demands have remained unanswered by the CISSSO: it’s time for the employer to continue the spring cleaning already started and that a meeting be held to get answers to our proposals”, stated Lyne Plante, President of the SPSO.

Among the steps that are awaiting answers are:

• An inter-union petition of nearly 3,000 names was tabled on January 24, last. The signatories demanded major corrective measures in the services for the population and in the employees’ working conditions, but has remained without an answer. The SPSO also insisted on the need for more recruitment and the importance of local care.
• More than 200 Dangerous Conditions Forms completed by the SPSO members were sent to the nursing administration and there has been no follow-up on these 200 forms.
• As for the local negotiations, 10 matters out of 26 remain to be settled in mediation. The union has always insisted on continuing the negotiations throughout this process.

“We took note of the changing of the guard at the CISSSO, and we hope it will come with a change in tone and eventually access to the resources needed to bring the demanded improvements. It’s urgent that we meet with the interim administration and its team, because too many pressing questions have been ignored,” concluded Lyne Plante.