As 200 bodies have piled up in a resting place due to a strike by maintenance and office workers at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal, TVA Nouvelles has learned that the families of the deceased are now demanding employer resorting to the courts to force unionized staff back to work.
The families consider that the request for an injunction is the best way to put an end to this conflict and alleviate the suffering of the relatives of people who have died, in some cases, for several months and whose burial is still awaited.
Remember that the strike was called on January 12, thereby stopping any activity of burial of the dead “in honor and dignity”, say the bereaved families.
According to the spokesman of the Association for the defense of the rights of the deceased and families of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, Paul Caghassi, the cemetery must act quickly because it will be prohibited after May 15 from mass storage of remains.
“Under the Funeral Activities Act, the cemetery will be liable to a daily fine of $1,500 to $4,500 for each of the remains that has not been cremated or buried. »
They estimate that fines could total $450,000 to $1.3 million per day.
Mr. Caghassi also invites bereaved families to submit complaints to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Inspection and Investigations Department.