MONTREAL Thousands of Quebec workers with hearing problems will no longer be eligible for help under the Francois Legault government s occupational health and safety reform plan. Labour Minister Jean Boulet argued the costs of occupational deafness have exploded, going from $40 million to $160 million and that the “intolerable status quo” must change. Bill 59 imposes barriers to assistance and a group of clinics connected to the public network is arguing it could accentuate the distress and isolation of affected workers. The Lobe Group is lobbying that the bill, which is currently under consideration, be amended. “We must be a voice for thousands of workers,” said the group s president, Martin Cousineau. “These are significant human impacts.”
MONTREAL Eleven CEGEPs in the Montreal area are mobilizing to offer short-term credit development programs to quickly come to the aid of the Quebec population unemployed due to the pandemic. The Regroupement des cegeps de Montreal (RCM) launched the initiative on Friday morning during a virtual news conference. Twenty-seven new training courses will allow people who have temporarily lost their jobs to improve their skills and update their skills in order to keep up with the development of their profession, an RCM news release reads. Funded with a $1.9 million grant from the Quebec government, the first round of courses are set to begin in March or April with small classes of 15 to 18 people.
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The Regroupement des cégeps de Montréal (RCM) announced the plan Friday during a virtual press conference.
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Nearly 30 training programs will “permit those who temporarily lost their jobs to … update their skills in order to follow the evolution of their profession,” the organization said in a statement.
Financed with a budget of $1.9 million by the Quebec government, the programs will cover a variety of sectors, including digital marketing, food processing, administration, management and others.
The province's workplace health and safety board will soon require health-care workers dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks to wear respirator masks, a decision described by a union as being much needed, even if it is eight months too late.