Racist and abusive remarks, physical violence, climate of fear; employees of color at the CLSC de Montréal-Nord recount their revolting experiences when they were sent to provide home care to a user with racist behaviour. And even if it’s been going on for years, their bosses would still send them there.
Warning: The following article describes racist interactions and contains offensive language. We have chosen not to censor them in the quotes of people who testify to their experiences, so as not to lessen the severity of the comments reported.
“The racist remarks are constant and we endure this verbal, psychological and physical violence, confides to the 24 hours Ginette (fictitious first name), a CLSC employee who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. She threw a towel at my face. (…) When you go to this lady, you are no longer safe. It’s a stress to go to this address every day.
Former employees of the CLSC de Montréal-Nord also confided in the 24 hours.
Zachary (fictitious first name) remembers well the time when he was physically attacked by the user, who used his wheelchair to strike him.
“In the face, she said to me:” Esti de negro, what are you doing here? It’s very humiliating. The boss knows. The boss is not with us and we have to go even if she calls us niggers. He does nothing to support us. It’s been going on for years,” he says.
The union is aware of the case and says it is trying to change things, without having obtained a satisfactory result so far.
“We met with the employer and made our points, but our members continued to [devoir] go to this problematic user,” says Daniel Gagné, president of the Union of Care Professionals of the North Island of Montreal. He has been in office since the summer, and says he was made aware of the situation on November 4.
“We proposed to the employer that the workers could go there in pairs. We even asked the employer, as far as possible, to choose the nurse who will provide the care, in order to protect our workers of color,” he reports.
None of these recommendations were accepted, he said.
“The only measure that was put in place by the employer was: if the [patiente] became aggressive and treated the employees in a nutshell, which is to make sure the lady is first settled in safely and to leave the house. Then, to report the events to the audience”, indignant Mr. Gagné.
He adds that the employer would have sent the employees a document asking them not to take the comments made by the patient personally.
“It’s like saying if I get punched in the face don’t take it personal. Our workers do not receive a punch in the face, but it is the psychological equivalent,” he laments.
Photomontage Julie Verville / Photos Adobe Stock and Mario Beauregard, Agence QMI
This patient’s home care has often been suspended for a few weeks during such events, but has always been restored, and the ride begins again, he reports.
The CLSC de Montréal-Nord comes under the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’île-de-Montréal. We contacted the CIUSSS to obtain their version of the facts, but they did not want to comment on this specific case.
By e-mail, the organization simply affirms that “behavior of incivility, violence or harassment towards employees is taken very seriously” and that “several measures are in place to ensure the safety of their employees from Home Care”.
Victims of violence or harassment can seek psychological support or file a formal complaint, the organization adds.
Squalid climate
Employees who have dealt with this patient describe a sordid work climate.
“I tell you, I have colleagues who pray in their car before they go home [chez la patiente] and others who cry after giving their visit to Madame,” Ginette told us, her voice choked with tears.
“We are intimidated. We are given disciplinary letters if we refuse. Everyone is afraid of losing their job“says Zachary.
the 24 hours was actually able to consult a disciplinary letter received by an employee who refused to visit the patient.
“The boss tells us that we are not sensitive and I think to myself: ‘how can we be sensitive with a person who calls us niggers?'”
Bernadette (fictitious first name), who also worked at the CLSC, agrees. Despite the patient’s known history, she inherited her file.
“I wanted to be removed from this case. The employer did not do it, even if Madame always hits the attendants and the nurses of Haitian origin, ”says the one who says that she had to go see her every week.
“Madame said insulting words to me. She called me a dirty nigger,” she says.
The CNESST called in for reinforcement
Seeing that the situation was not improving after trying to intervene, the union called the Commission for standards, equity, health and safety at work (CNESST) for reinforcements on December 21.
The report issued on January 21 by the organization, whose 24 hours has obtained a copy, recognizes that there is a problem to be corrected, but does not give specific steps to follow to the administration of the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
The inspector who signs the document essentially asks the employer “to ensure that the measures put in place are efficient in order to reduce the risk of aggression”, to update the intervention plan related to this case and provide the CNESST with the training material provided to employees so that it can be evaluated.
“Given the state of vulnerability of the user, it would be difficult to completely curb these manifestations of aggressiveness. The employer must ensure that effective measures are in place to minimize them,” reads the document, which indicates that these behaviors date back as far as 2018.
The union contests this report, which the president considers insufficient.
He does not understand why colored employees continue to be sent to this woman. “I find it disgusting. This is a situation that has persisted for four years and the employer is very aware of it. For four years, he has continued to expose his employees to racism on a daily basis, ”he summarizes.
The CNESST refused our interview requests in connection with this case.
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Reference-www.24heures.ca