Families return to Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery after months-long closure

Monday marked the near-complete reopening of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal, following the end of the labour dispute that kept the site closed to families for more than six months.

There were tears and some frustration as Sotiria Klironomos, along with her mother, finally paid a visit to her father's gravesite.

"It's all this bureaucracy, but the bureaucracy can't take away from the humanism. I understand there are contracts, but why make the little people pay?" she said.

The Klironomos family said they pay a lot for the burial plot and are unhappy they were denied access for so long.

This is the first time in months the three entrances to the cemetery are open. Family members arrived to clean the gravesites of their loved ones.

"I want to take the time to thank families for their patience and their understanding. It's been a tough time, a tough situation, for them," said Michel St-Amour, volunteer administrator of La Fabrique, the non-profit organization managing the site.

For several months, grieving families were locked out of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, the largest cemetery in Canada.

Maintenance workers have been back on the job since the strike ended in July, cutting grass and cleaning up the branches from the April ice storm.

Burial services have resumed, but the backlog will take until December to clear, said St-Amour.

"Last time, we tried to be recognized as an essential service, and that was denied by the court. We will reapply for it, and we think after what we just went through, I think people realize that it's important that we can function as a cemetery," he said.

Families are relieved to be back yet unhappy about the lockout.

"It's more than just a cemetery. For some people, this is their life. When you've lost someone you love, and you're all alone, where do you turn? You come here," said Klironomos.

At the front gate, administrative workers are still picketing. They've been without a contract since 2017, and negotiations are ongoing.

"Since 2017, [we've been] without any contract. So three years before, we had one point per year of increase of salary, and right now we're six years without any increase of salary, so in nine years we had 3 per cent of increase in salary," said Eric Dufault, union president for administrators at the cemetery.

Dufault said office workers are asking to keep up with inflation.

"Hopefully, we'll see them shortly back in the office," said St-Amour. "That's what we hope for."