Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery agreement vote postponed

A tentative agreement reached last week to end a labour dispute at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, has yet to be voted on by union members.

Negotiations with the cemetery’s maintenance and office workers, and management, seemed to have finally gone in a positive direction June 15, when proposed recommendations by a government-appointed mediator were agreed upon.

The cemetery has been closed since January amid the labour dispute and more than 300 bodies are currently in cold storage, waiting to be buried.

Members of the cemetery’s union were supposed to meet and vote on Wednesday night, but the general assembly was postponed because the union and employer can’t agree on a back-to-work protocol.

Patrick Chartrand, union president for the maintenance workers at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, tells CityNews in an email Thursday morning that they “agreed on the confidentiality of the content of this project until its presented to our members.”

“We’ve worked really hard and made some important progress on Wednesday of last week,” explained Chartrand. “Every agreement, when there is a conflict, must include a back-to-work protocol. When we left [last week…], we agreed to work on it in the next few days.”

He said that on Tuesday night, the union and employer were still in discussions, and the employer put new elements on the table.

“Those elements where completely unacceptable. We didn’t have new demands. We sent them our demands last week. […] We are right now with the conciliator trying to work things out.”

BACKGROUND:

• Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery tentative agreement reached, but will remain closed for Father’s Day
• Gates of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery remain closed, families left unable to grieve loved ones
• Visitors unhappy with state of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery on Mother’s Day
• Montrealers sidestepping fallen branches, damaging secondary trails on Mount Royal
• Montreal’s Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery closed again amid Ice Storm cleanup

Notre-dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal, June 21, 2023. (CREDIT: Martin Daigle, CityNews Image)

At the heart of the labour dispute were pay increases were the major sticking point in negotiations, as well as back pay and workers’ desire to maintain or increase staffing levels.

Families are still left with no answers as to when Notre-Dame-des-Neiges will reopen.