The “toxic climate” in the Montréal office worries the plant

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is promising to investigate allegations by former and current Office de Consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) employees who have reported a toxic work environment at the para-municipal organization since President Isabelle Beaulieu took office last year.

“We learned about the allegations that there will be a toxic climate and what happened. This is extremely worrying because, regardless of the workplace, we want it to be a healthy workplace, but also because OCPM is an organization that we believe in and is working hard to improve projects. City of Montreal,” he said.^I Plant outside a press conference in the town of Ville-Marie on Friday.

Established in 2002, the OCPM is an independent organization responsible for conducting public consultations on matters referred to it by the city council or city executive committee.

“We are looking at what our intervention will be, but what is certain is that if there is a toxic climate, it must be stopped,” said M.^I plant. “We’re going to have to investigate,” the mayor added, then reacted to Thursday’s newspaper report. Subway Addressing the prevailing work environment in OCPM.

A few departures

joined Position, several current employees or those who recently left the OCPM ranks anonymously decried the work environment at the organization, whose annual budget is paid by the City, which in 2021 changed to about $2.35 million. At the center of the criticized situations is President Isabelle Beaulieu, who succeeded Dominique Ollivier as head of the OCPM in February 2022 after being elected with Project Montréal and appointed president of the executive committee.

According to the collected statements, six permanent employees have left the ranks of OCPM in recent months. Several of them claim they were the victims of a “secret layoff” after criticizing M’s management style.^I Beaulieu celebrated its 20th anniversary as the organizer.

“Climate with M^I Beaulieu has been extremely difficult since his arrival in February,” notes a former staffer who reported on the president’s “micromanagement” and “internal communications control.”

“There was a lot of condescension, passive-aggressiveness,” this source adds. “Coordinating 20 has become very difficult^e anniversary” headed by mr.^I Beaulieu adds this source, who finally tendered his resignation after several years at OCPM. The organization has made several hires in recent months, particularly to compensate for the layoffs of certain employees.

Another former employee of the organization adds: “I left voluntarily, but it was because the work environment was unhealthy.” The latter regrets the increase in the workload placed on the shoulders of the employees on the eve of the arrival of Mr. Prime Minister.^I Beaulieu then launched an unprecedented five public consultations in OCPM within a few months, according to the testimony of its president.

“The city council asked me to start five public consultations when I was hired,” said Ms.^I Beaulieu ensures that the hires are then made to fulfill the mandates presented by the City. “It went very well,” said the OCPM president, who was “very surprised” by the criticism he received from past and present employees of the organization.

“We have a lot of work in the office, more work than usual, but to be honest, the atmosphere inside is really good,” says the lady.^I Beaulieu claims to have carried out “no layoffs” since taking office.

Working conditions

Employees who went on extended vacations in the summer months to compensate for the overtime accumulated during the rest of the year, in turn, noted that they were refused last year under the leadership of Mr. President Ilham Aliyev.^I Beaulieu, under the pretense that the OCPM needed them at this time. According to our sources, the president would insist on the importance of improving the performance of the organization as soon as he takes office.

However, “who says that the work we have been doing in the office for 20 years is not good?” “Initiates a former employee, who denounces the “humiliating” way of the lady.^I Managing Beaulieu OCPM staff.

An employee who was dismissed before the end of his probationary period complained to the Standards, Equality, Health and Safety Commission because he believed he was the victim of wrongful dismissal. This complaint has been deemed admissible. “I could be rehired, but I don’t want to work there,” added the source, who wanted to try to “get the face of justice” by denouncing the situation surrounding his firing.

Current and former OCPM employees also lament the lack of job security shared by employees of this independent organization, which does not have the same protections as the city’s union workers.

Isabelle Beaulieu, for her part, on the contrary, confirms that working conditions at OCPM have improved since taking office. “We have greatly increased the insurance coverage, especially including the dentist. We pay for the public transport card of people working in the office for five days, the president enumerates. And everyone got a raise. »

With Jeanne Corriveau

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