Bereaved families are asking Prime Minister François Legault to get involved in a labor dispute that has blocked access to one of Canada’s largest cemeteries for five months.
The wrought iron gates of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal have remained closed since mid-January, when a strike by office and maintenance workers began, except for a few days In early spring.
Daniel Granger, spokesman for the Notre-Dame parish factory, which owns the cemetery, said more than 250 remains have not been buried this year due to the labor dispute. These are meanwhile stored on site, in a frozen state. “It’s just impossible to do burials with the limited number of people we have at the site right now,” he explained.
“In short, we have to provide services to families with only eight people, at the same time as cleaning up the site, which covers 139 hectares,” he said.
Sitting on the northern flank of Mount Royal, the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery was exceptionally open for Mother’s Day on Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., although several sections are not accessible to the public due to damage. to trees damaged by last month’s ice storm, red ribbons emblazoned with the word “danger” blocking paths.
An “inhuman” situation
Jimmy Koliakoudakis, who came to the cemetery with flowers in hand, for his mother who died in February, denounces an “inhuman” and “undignified” situation. “I can’t even put them on my mother’s grave: she’s in a freezer,” he lamented. We are asking the government to intervene. We are suffering. »
A mediator from the provincial government is expected to propose a compromise in the coming days ― an initiative that Labor Minister Jean Boulet has highlighted as part of his efforts to resolve the situation ― said Paul Caghassi, which represents a group of affected families.
A long line of cars jammed the nearby streets, and the sound of car horns echoed through a usually quiet neighborhood.
Nick Di Perna, whose daughter, wife, mother, father, aunt and uncle are buried at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, drove from Toronto to pay his respects.
“I got stuck for an hour, I thought it was because of a construction site,” he said. His grandson managed to set foot in the cemetery at a place where the grid was twisted, but Mr. Di Perna had to stay outside.
About 90 maintenance workers have been without a contract since 2018 and on strike since January, according to union representatives. In addition, 17 office workers did the same in December, having been without a collective agreement since 2017.
“We are still in emergency mode,” said office workers union president Éric Dufault. “It was a disaster for the quality of service […] we have been trying to negotiate for the past five years, and nothing is moving,” he said.
Both unions say wages and the number of employees remain points of contention. Workers earn about $70,000 a year, according to the employer.