Posted by For the past few weeks, MUHC management has required employees to indicate on a form if they are suffering from certain symptoms related to COVID and to sign this form every day when they enter the workplace.
We understand the need for prevention, but the problem with the form is that everyone who comes after you can see if you have reported having one(1) or more symptoms. That’s a problem. This does not protect the privacy of your personal health related informations.
Since the Direction refuses to change the way it is done, the CSN, APTS and FIQ have appealed to the Arbitration Tribunal to render a decision that will ensure that the confidentiality of your medical information is respected.
We won our point in arbitration. The arbitrator issued what is called an “Ordonnance de sauvegarde” (it is similar to an injunction):
[3] DECLARES that the requirement for employees to complete the standardized health declaration form as is and as per the directive issued on April 20, 2020 violates their right to privacy;
4] ORDERS the employer to cease this practice and, if it considers it appropriate, to modify it to bring it into line with respect for the fundamental rights of the staff concerned;
note : it is our translation of the Ordonnance
A great victory, yes, but this victory does not solve the fundamental problem. Our health and safety is compromised by the lack of preventive measures, starting with the lack of testing.
Prevention is through testing.
Since April 1st, the union has been demanding that every employee in the health network should be tested for COVID once a week in order to detect those who are contaminated as quickly as possible.
Regular testing is all the more crucial since many people do not develop symptoms even if they are contaminated and contagious. By not testing the employees, a number of them are made to work without knowing that they are infected.
It’s testing again and again that we need to do, it’s not signing a sheet that will protect us because employees who don’t have symptoms won’t report anything but they may still be contagious.
For a real prevention policy test everyone, once a week, it’s the only way to quickly isolate contagious people.
Your union executive