Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery: Unionized workers vote in favour of general unlimited strike
Posted November 22, 2022 10:33 am.
Last Updated November 22, 2022 11:40 am.
Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery Worker’s Union (NDNDWC) voted 71 per cent in favour of a strike, by secret ballot, at an assembly held Monday night.
This is the second union that has voted to strike, the other has been on strike since September.
In a press release, they say it’s “a strike mandate that could go as far as an unlimited general strike to be called at the appropriate times.”
“For a long time, the work climate at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery has been degenerating and the employer has done nothing to improve it. There is a lot of confusion in the day-to-day operations and we can only manage to honour the cremations and burials on schedule, without being able to respond to emergencies. We are at the end of our rope and the only way out of this disastrous situation is for our members to stop participating altogether,” says Patrick Chartrand, President of the STTCNDDN-CSN.
The 17-member office union, which has been in bargaining for five years, has also called an indefinite general strike.
“We will now stand together to get our two negotiations resolved, and as quickly as possible.”
(CREDIT: Martin Daigle/CityNews)
(CREDIT: Martin Daigle/CityNews)
Without a labour contract since Dec. 31, 2018, the STTCNDDN-CSN has been in negotiations since November 2019.
On strike since September 20, the Union of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery Office Employees (SEECNDDN-CSN), for its part, called an unlimited general strike on Oct. 20.
“These workers have been without a contract for four years. Instead of proposing a constructive solution, the Fabrique Notre-Dame is dragging out the negotiations. Without any budgetary transparency, the employer still claims that it does not have the financial resources to meet the employees’ demands. According to each of the two union units, employees have not received an increase for four or five years and current inflation is making them poorer with each pay cheque,” said Linda Tavolaro, General Secretary of the Federation of Public Service Employees-CSN.
