Tension between visitors and employees of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery due to a four-year labor dispute is mounting to such an extent that the administration has had to hire a security guard.
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“There are employees who were surrounded, visitors who yelled at employees and there was even one who was a little aggressive and who hit with a tool on the vehicle of an employee”, lists Patrick Chartrand, president of the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery Workers’ Union in Montreal.
According to the latter, employees in the field are ordered to redirect customers who are dissatisfied and angry about the pitiful state of the cemetery to the administrative offices.
As a precaution, the administration has hired a security guard who is now posted at the entrance to this building.
It was the sending of a press release to customers that recently exacerbated tensions, argues Mr. Chartrand. The administration of the cemetery indicated that the employees would carry out a work slowdown.
For Patrick Chartrand, the employer uses this means to put pressure on the union.
Since November 2019, the two parties have been negotiating to renew the collective agreement that has expired since December 2018, but the discussions are mainly stumbling over monetary issues.
Poor condition
On Wednesday, when the Journal passed, thousands of graves were covered with weeds or invasive plants making it impossible to read the names.
In some areas, even traffic between the aisles is very difficult.
Groundhog holes are also ubiquitous near tombstones and are sometimes accompanied by unpleasant surprises such as unearthed jewelry that belonged to the person under the grave.
The poor state in which this emblematic cemetery of Mount Royal is located is explained above all by the lack of personnel, estimates Patrick Chartrand.
“Our group of employees has greatly diminished over the past 15 years. The employer thinks he can offer the same type of service with 40-50 fewer employees, this is clearly not the case,” he says.
Only one person is assigned to finish grass cutting with a brush cutter for almost a million graves.
Many visitors are sad and angry to find the resting place of their loved one in such a state.
Annabel Vidulich admits to having burst into tears when she discovered her parents’ land covered with hay.
Complaint
She first wanted, for their dignity, to clean up the surroundings of their resting place herself. which he was denied.
After having tried in vain to formulate an official complaint, she intends to put the cemetery on notice.
The administration of the cemetery did not respond to our interview requests.
