No deal: Workers at Canada’s largest cemetery to keep striking

The strike at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, Canada’s largest cemetery, will continue after workers rejected a tentative deal.

The months-long strike has forced the cemetery’s closure to family and visitors. It has also delayed in-ground burials, as about 300 bodies lay in cold storage.

Operation and maintenance workers walked off the job on Jan. 12, following office workers who went on strike in September 2022.

On June 15, Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet congratulated management and the union for reaching a tentative agreement. He said that both sides had agreed to the recommendation by the province’s head mediator.

However, at a union meeting on Wednesday, members rejected the conciliator’s recommendations and the return-to-work protocol.

“I felt like the proposal was acceptable to present to our members, but ultimately, they are the ones who decide and there’s some aspects of it that didn’t go over well,” said Patrick Chartrand, president of the Cemetery Maintenance Employees’ Union.

Chartrand says around 60 per cent of workers refused the deal.

As for cemetery workers, he says the deal was refused unanimously.

Chartrand says a few of the sticking points are job security, retroactive pay and the back-to-work protocol.

“I think we made some progress, we’re on the right track. I believe there wouldn’t be much to work on to settle this, so let’s go back to work,” said Chartrand.

Michel St-Amour, a volunteer administrator at the Fabrique de la paroisse Notre-Dame, urged the leaders of the CSN and presidents of the operations and clerical staff unions to help end the conflict.

“We’ve gone above and beyond to make you the best possible offers. We’ve accepted the mediator/conciliator’s settlement recommendation and will honour our commitment,” he said in a statement. “Now, we need to finalize the agreements and resume cemetery activities as soon as possible to respect the bereaved families and those of the deceased.”

2:00 Montreal cemetery at centre of tense labour dispute remains closed on Father’s Day

St-Amour goes on to say that management will not resume discussions with the unions or meet with the chief conciliator as long as “striker intimidation and other pressure tactics against cemetery management and volunteer administrators continue … including repeated picketing in front of the homes of several volunteer administrators.”

For its part, the union says it was told by a court that members “have the right” to picket in front of homes, as long as it is done so respectfully.

Global News has reached out to Quebec’s labour minister for comment, but has yet to hear back.