Families call on government to settle Montreal cemetery dispute; 250 bodies waiting to be buried

It’s been an emotional roller-coaster for Michael Musacchio, who has a daughter buried at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery.

Since maintenance and operations workers went on strike in January, the cemetery has closed and reopened its doors more times than he can count.

“I’ve refused to accept anybody telling me that I can’t come see my daughter,” said Musacchio. “This is not something that I’ll ever accept and it has to stop.”

The labour dispute has put in-ground burials on hold, and for most of the last four months, the cemetery has been closed.

A spokesperson has said it doesn’t have the staff to upkeep the grounds.

Since the strike began, 250 bodies are waiting to be buried, including Evanthia Karassavidis’s father.

“We have the right to bury our loved ones,” Karassavidis said. “This has to be an essential service — we shouldn’t be going through this over and over again. This happened in 2007 — it’s like deja vu.”

In 2007, maintenance workers were locked out during a labour dispute, which resulted in just under 600 bodies being left in cold storage.

This time around, the union and the cemetery haven’t sat down at the negotiating table together since Jan. 31.

According to the union, management wants to cut full-time staff and freeze salaries. Employees have been without a contract since December 2018.

The cemetery’s office workers have also been on strike since September 2022.

For its part, a spokesperson for the cemetery says its last offer — a wage hike of 15 per cent over five years — is generous.

“Each operation employee would receive $52 per hour – or an annual package worth of $115 000,” said cemetery spokesperson Daniel Granger.

There are two conciliators on the file, and Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet says he’s doing everything he can to help both parties come to an agreement.

“I rely upon my two mediators; they know how to deal with the parties, they know how to reach an agreement with them,” said Boulet. “At this point in time, that’s all I can do.”

Meanwhile, in a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Premier François Legault said his thoughts go out to the bereaved families and cemetery employees.

“We hope the two sides reach an agreement as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Jean Boulet remains in contact with both parties and is offering his full collaboration.”

But for families, words aren’t good enough anymore — they want action.

“Sending your thoughts and prayers and just following the matter, you need to step up and be in front of these people and say this is enough,” said Musacchio.

The cemetery has been closed following April’s ice storm. It has announced it will reopen for Mother’s Day on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

But a cemetery spokesperson says it will close again on Monday to continue cleaning up the site. They say the doors will be closed for however long it takes to make the site secure again.