Unionized workers at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery have voted in favour of a general unlimited strike.
In a news release, the STTCNDDN–CSN union said it adopted the strike mandate with a 71 per cent vote in favour.
"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," said union president Patrick Chartrand in a news release. "There is a lot of confusion in the day-to-day operations, and we are only able to carry out scheduled cremations and burials 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,"
The 125-member union has been without a contract for four years.
The office workers union at the cemetery (SEECNDDN-CSN) have been on strike since Sept. 20, and called for 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," said Linda Tavolaro, General Secretary of the Fédération des employées et employés de services publics-CSN. "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 paycheque."
People with loved ones buried at the cemetery have complained that their plots and gravesites have not been properly maintained in recent years.
The unions' employer has said it cannot meet the unions' demands.
