Families feel like ‘prisoners’ amid labour dispute at Montreal cemetery – Montreal | 24CA News
Evanthia Karassavidis’s father died simply over a month in the past, after struggling two strokes and a number of well being circumstances.
After his funeral service, Karassavidis and her household had been keen to place her 83-year-old father to relaxation, however she was knowledgeable that wouldn’t be potential — his physique wouldn’t be buried when anticipated due to a labour dispute.
“It’s unheard of, it’s a basic right, to me,” stated Karassavidis. “We’re shocked in the sense that, how can this be happening? We have enough to deal with.”
On Jan. 12, the operations and upkeep employees on the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery went on strike.
Since then, the gates to the cemetery have been closed and no floor burials have taken place.
Mausoleum burials and cremations have continued.
More than two months later, the dispute continues to be ongoing, and households have been unable to bury their family members or go to the graves of kin.
Dina Ipsilandis’s mom died final week and he or she stated she was shocked to listen to that it might be months earlier than her mom is buried.
“It’s really ridiculous, you know? They’re going in the freezer — I don’t know where she went,” stated Ipsilandis. “And loved ones can’t come here, they can’t do anything — they’re not allowed.”
Talks between administration and the union appear to be stalled.
The two haven’t spoken since Jan. 31, and each say they’re ready for the opposite to provoke extra negotiations.
“It’s mostly the attitude at the table — it’s take it or leave it,” stated Patrick Chartrand, president of the union representing upkeep employees on the cemetery. “There’s no discussions, no exchange of ideas to try and find solutions.”
Chartrand says upkeep and operations employees have been with out a contract since December 2018.
The cemetery’s workplace employees have additionally been on strike since September 2022.
The strike, Chartrand says, was the final resort.
The essential stumbling block is job safety and workers cuts.
For its half, a spokesperson for the cemetery says its final provide — a wage hike of 15 per cent over 5 years — is beneficiant.
It’s additionally requested the union to permit a small workforce of upkeep employees to proceed burials to reduce disruptions for households.
“We’ve made this proposal and unfortunately, up until now, they’ve decided not to accept it,” stated Daniel Granger, spokesperson for the Fabrique de la paroisse Notre-Dame, a Catholic group that manages the cemetery.
Granger says the cemetery has 132 our bodies ready to be buried.
This isn’t the primary time the cemetery has had a burial backlog.
In 2007, upkeep employees had been locked out throughout a labour dispute, which resulted in just below 600 our bodies being left in chilly storage.
Families, nevertheless, argue they don’t care who’s proper or flawed.
They say they really feel like prisoners of the battle they usually need somebody to intervene.
“This is considered a non-profit organization, so why is it being run like a business?” stated Peter Lambrinos, whose mom died on Jan. 26. “Why isn’t the government stepping in?”
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