The Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, grants an additional 24 hours to the Union of workers of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, which could hold a general meeting Thursday with its members to determine whether there will be arbitration. However, a “blitz” of discussions with a conciliator will continue until then.
On Twitter on Wednesday, Mr. Boulet reiterated that “the human consequences linked to the strike at the cemetery are unacceptable”. “The conciliator continues to work with the parties to put an end to this conflict. If no agreement is reached today, I will await a response from the parties to my arbitration proposal. [jeudi] “, he wrote in a tweet.
Earlier this week, on Monday, the minister said he expected to appoint an arbitrator by Wednesday to resolve the labor dispute that irritates several bereaved families often left to their own devices.
According to Mr. Boulet’s office, the union has requested “additional time” before deciding, first having to hold a general meeting and a vote of its members to determine whether they wish to go to arbitration. A “blitz” of discussions continued during this time on Wednesday to “come to an agreement in principle”, it is argued.
” OUR focus and our energies are to do everything possible to settle the conflict with the help of the conciliator,” said the president of the Cemetery Workers’ Union, Patrick Chartrand, on Wednesday.
The direction of the cemetery, it, had supported Monday the request of the minister, by arguing that the appointment of an arbitrator would make it possible to “decide on the points in dispute”. “Recourse to arbitration seems to us to be the avenue to take to settle any disputes that may remain while allowing us to complete the cleaning and resume normal activities of the cemetery as soon as possible,” argued in a press release the volunteer administrator of the Notre-Dame Parish Factory, Michel St-Amour.
For the time being, only a conciliator accompanies the parties in their negotiations. Unlike an arbitrator, however, he cannot decide and render an award that would eventually be part of the new collective agreement.
It should be remembered that the cemetery’s field employees have been without a contract since 2018 and have been on strike since last January, while the office employees have been on strike since September, those who have been without a contract since 2017. The main points of contention in the discussions concern salaries, but also the employment floor, which management would like to set at 47 positions. It was so far 62.
On Sunday, families again appealed to the Quebec government to resolve the impasse during a demonstration in front of the cemetery. A tentative agreement between management and the union of cemetery maintenance employees was already rejected last month.
With Vincent Larin, The Press