Montreal city worker claims racism complaints ignored: ‘I don’t feel safe anywhere’ – Montreal | 24CA News
City of Montreal blue collar employee Maxime Charles hasn’t gone to work since April.
“Because I’m sick, I’m tired and I’m afraid,” he instructed reporters throughout a news convention Friday.
He alleges that since 2019 he’s been the goal of racial slurs and bullying at his office within the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles.
“One of the workers came at my work,” he recounted, “he came to attack me, he pushed me aggressively.”
Charles added that he was additionally threatened, and this spring his locker was damaged into and gadgets stolen, and he noticed what he believes was excrement unfold on his locker.
“I don’t feel safe anywhere at work,” he defined.
He mentioned he filed a grievance along with his supervisor, and with police twice, and that he received a response solely when the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) intervened.
“Last week we wrote to the Station 49 commander to ask for a follow up, and within less than a day the investigator called,” Fo Niemi, head of CRARR acknowledged on the news convention by the employees.
Charles says he nonetheless has heard nothing from his employer nor his supervisor.
“He’s still at work and I’m home sick,” mentioned Charles.
At a day press briefing by the town, government committee chair Dominique Ollivier mentioned she was appalled to listen to Charles’ story.
“It’s really unacceptable that something of this nature, this calibre would go on,” she responded when reporters instructed her what the employee mentioned.
Earlier this week the town introduced plans to overtake the complaints course of by this fall, however staff like Charles are nervous about complaints that they’ve been submitting for years.
“We are taking them very seriously,” Ollivier identified, “and we’re going to make sure that it comes to a resolution as fast as possible.”
She additionally mentioned some amendments to the method have already been made.
“We changed the system this week to make sure that the people would be accompanied when they have to make a complaint,” she defined.
She added that there’s now additionally higher monitoring of complaints to stop them falling by means of the cracks.
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