Cemetery workers want lockout to end and strike to go on

Maintenance workers at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal are ready to return to work if management ends their lockout, union representatives announced Tuesday.

But the 129 employees, who were barred from the cemetery grounds in May, say they'll continue pressure tactics including a one-day strike a week, on Fridays, as long as a new work contract isn't achieved.

On Monday, they voted 98 per cent in favour of continuing the strike, but are willing to compromise and work four days a week to minimize the inconvenience to families, said Claudette Carbonneau, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).

The government's threat to legislate employees back to work was a deciding factor in the union's announcement, she said on Tuesday. "For us, it is extremely important that the dispute is resolved in a process of good-faith negotiation between the parties.

Carbonneau also called on the province to respect the "normal process of negotiation."

The Quebec government ordered the cemetery and its maintenance workers' union to resolve their months-long labour conflict by Tuesday, or else it would consider back-to-work legislation.

Hundreds of families were caught in limbo after cemetery managers locked out the maintenance workers May 16 over failed contract talks.

No funerals have been held since then, and the grounds, nestled on Mont- Royal's slope, were allowed to grow wild over the summer.

A coalition of affected families launched a class-action lawsuit against the cemetery earlier this summer.

Thecemetery will have a final global offer available by Thursday, a representative said.

The union's offer means burials in the famous graveyard could resume as early as next Monday.

Maintenance employees have been working without a contract since December 2003. They're asking for higher wages and more job security given their job's seasonal character.