‘I feel as though I'm abandoning her’: Frustrated families speak out about cemetery strike

Frustration is mounting among families who cannot visit their loved ones' graves at Montreal's Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery due to a strike, which has reached the three-month mark.

Among those hurting are two mothers who still have decorations from Christmas on their children's graves.

"We haven't been able to come, and I feel as though I'm abandoning her," Antoinette Romano said from outside the cemetery on Saturday.

Nancy Babalis says ever since the strike began, she drives by the cemetery instead.

"We'll scream out 'hi Peter' just so we can feel like we came and say this is the closest we can get to you," she said.

The cemetery's office workers union (SEECNDDN-CSN) has been on strike since Sept. 20.

In November, more unionized cemetery workers (STTCNDDN–CSN) voted in favour of a general unlimited strike, citing degenerating working conditions.

The 125 members in that union have been without a contract for four years.

Union president Patrick Chartrand is worried the strike will extend through summer.

"We really made sure that we did everything else before going on strike. I guess four years for us and five for the office workers shows that it wasn't our first option to strike," said Chartrand.

For Cathy Benny, the disruption has made the mourning process more challenging.

Benny says she tried to visit the cemetery with her father two weeks ago—the fifth anniversary of her mother's death.

"There’s security at the door. They wouldn't let us in," said Benny. "There were other people that had come from France to see their loved one before going back to France that night, and they couldn't get in."

In an e-mail, the cemetery's management team says it wants to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

In the meantime, it says it's focused on providing mausoleum burials and cremation services.