Striking cemetery workers using 'intimidating' pressure tactics, says management

Managers of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery are accusing striking workers of engaging in "violent" and "intimidating" behaviour against administrators as well as parishioners attending mass.

As a result, The Fabrique de la Paroisse Notre-Dame de Montréal plans to take legal action and apply for an injunction, it stated in a press release.

"[The Fabrique] vehemently condemns the recent unacceptable behaviour and violent and disrespectful actions of employees who are members of the operations and office workers’ unions of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery," it reads.

It said a formal notice has already been sent to union leaders condemning the activity.

According to management, workers allegedly employed "unacceptable" pressure tactics over the last few weeks.

It describes noisy and lengthy protests in front of or near the homes of volunteer Fabrique administrators, calling the acts a form of intimidation.

"This behaviour constitutes an intrusion into a person's home, violating their right to privacy and property, and causing unacceptable harm to the person concerned, their family and the families living in the neighbourhood," the statement sent by spokesperson Daniel Granger said.

The unions representing the striking workers declined to comment on the allegations.

Communications officer for the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Ursule Ferland said they'll be in touch "when they have official communications to pass on."

More than 500 employees, including office workers and maintenance staff, are on strike, which started Sept. 20, 2022 with the office workers. Other groups of employees later joined the job action.

MASS DISTURBANCE

Fabrique also alleges that about 40 union members went into Notre Dame Basilica on July 5 just before mass was set to begin and were asked to leave.

"Several members of the operations union refused to acquiesce to this request and even surrounded and pushed roughly the Fabrique representatives," the release said, adding the union members then stormed out while "blowing whistles and throwing confetti into the Basilica."

This latest round of friction comes about a week after a tentative deal to end a months-long strike fell through.

Union and management were set to formally agree on a proposed deal reached earlier in the month but union members rejected the recommendations from a Labour Ministry conciliator for a return-to-work protocol.

On Thursday, Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet tweeted that he will be meeting with both parties in the dispute separately on Monday.

"This conflict has been going on for too long, with far-reaching consequences for human dignity and for the families affected," Boulet said.

The strike over working conditions at Canada's largest cemetery has put grieving families in the middle of the ongoing dispute, as approximately 300 bodies lay waiting in cold storage as in-ground burials have been postponed.

With files from CTV's Joe Lofaro