Montreal union calls on province to look into systemic discrimination

MONTREAL (CityNews) ─ Black women working in Quebec’s health-care system say they face systemic discrimination both on the job and during the hiring process.

A Montreal union filed 1,000 grievances on behalf of employees in the Centre-Sud area of Montreal.

Workers, particularly those who are orderlies known as PABs (institutional and home care assistance), say they feel systemic racial inequalities on the job daily.

“A lot of opportunities that others get, we don’t get,” said Jarieu Koroma, who works in the housekeeping department at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’île-de-Montréal. “Even if we have the qualifications, we don’t get it.”

Koroma came to Montreal in 2008 from Sierra Leone. She initially worked as a PAB before moving over to housekeeping due to the stress of the job and the racial barriers she says she and her friends still face today.

“They have a lot of qualifications but at the end of the day, they can’t find any jobs in their department,” said Koroma. “They have to go through maybe either housekeeping department or working in the PAB just to make ends meet because they have families to take care of.”

Fo Niemi from the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) says the women decided to publicly voice their complaints because the evidence points to a form of systemic discrimination based on race and gender.

“There’s such a hierarchy of positions, hierarchy of job conditions and benefits, and then over the years you can see more and more people of colour, more and more immigrants getting in certain positions but not others,” said Niemi. “So the union and many of these women (have) gotten together over the years and decided to take action.”

The push from the Montreal union comes after Premier Francois Legault reiterated that there isn’t systemic racism within Quebec’s institutions because it’s not coming from the system, but that racism exists within certain individuals.

“They don’t know what is going on obviously, so maybe if they look deeper they will find out systemic racism really exists,” said Koroma.

“The only thing that will fix it is equalization. Treat me as you treat yourself. It’s not difficult, it’s easy.”

The union and community groups are hoping for reparations, calling on the health authority to evaluate systemic discrimination within its work structure.

“Today it’s white people who negotiate conditions for racialized groups and we missed the boat again to recognize the value of their work for its fair value,” said Alain Croteau, the union president of the Syndicat des Travailleuses et Travailleurs du CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’île-de-Montréal.

A spokesperson for the regional health authority told CityNews in a statement: “Our establishment firmly believes in the inclusion of everyone, whatever their origin is or wherever they are from. In August, we adopted a charter of commitment on the inclusion of people, sexual and gender diversity.

“Race is not a criteria for hiring a candidate in our establishment and is not a criteria to obtain a position in management.”