End of cemetery lockout shows 'respect for families': Quebec

Management at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal have agreed to end their lockout of maintenance employees, effectively clearing the way for burials to resume next week.

Quebec Labour Minister David Whissell confirmed Wednesday morning that the Fabrique Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, the cemetery's management, has accepted the union's proposal to lift the lockout, and allow maintenance workers to return to the jobs while contract negotiations continue.

"A negotiated agreement is preferable to an imposed settlement," Whissell said during a break at the provincial Liberal caucus meeting in Vaudreuil, west of Montreal. "In that sense, I'm happy with this outcome, which was achieved out of respect for the families."

On Tuesday, under threat of government intervention, the union representing the 129 workers said it was willing to send them back to the cemetery next Monday to resume interments, were management to lift the lockout.

However, the union reserves the right to strike on Fridays until a new contract is reached.

Nearly 500 bodies have accumulated in the cemetery's cold storage room since management locked out maintenance workers on May 16 after contract negotiations fell through.

Whissell said he's confident the bodies will all be buried before the ground freezes in November and winter sets in.

"Both parties say that stored bodies will be buried between now and the winter freeze. The union has also indicated to me that they will work regular days in spite of their weekly strike, and workers will be available for overtime if necessary."

Class-action suit remains

Families waiting to bury their loved ones at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges may start laying them to rest as early as next Monday.

But a class-action lawsuit launched by several relatives remains, and families are determined to seek damages for the inconvenience they've had to live with over the past four months.

"We're very happy about the [union's] decision. But this won't be removing the pain of the last four months," said Paul Caghassi, who speaks for the family coalition behind the lawsuit.

Now that the union is poised to return to work Monday and resume burials, families can start mourning properly, he told CBC News.

"Finally things are happening. I think it's time for me to start grieving and move on with my life," said the Montreal resident, who has waited since spring to bury his mother.

Burial notice sought

Caghassi hopes the cemetery will give families due notice before scheduling burials. He's asking that families living outside of Montreal be granted at least a week's notice to organize travel.

The maintenance workers are represented by the Syndicat des travailleurs et des travailleuses du cimetire Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, a local of the Confdration des syndicats nationaux. They've been working without a contract since December 2003.

The Notre-des-Neiges cemetery is the largest in Canada and Quebec's most famous graveyard.

Hockey Hall of Famer Maurice "Rocket" Richard, former Gov. Gen. Jeanne Sauv and former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa are buried there.