Talks resume after union rejects cemetery offer

Union and managementat Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery returned to the bargaining table Monday after the union executive decided Saturday that management's latest offer was not good enough to vote on. Instead, the union filed a counter-offer.

Meanwhile, representatives of an association of families waiting to bury their relatives at the cemetery met Saturday for a one-hour closed-door meeting with Claudette Carbonneau, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), which represents gravediggers and maintenance workers who have been locked out since May 16.

"We didn't get all the answers we wanted to get, that's for sure. But, you know, they know we're still going to be there," said Debora de Thomassis, president of the families' association. "We're going to keep putting pressure on both parties, that's the important part. And we're still not satisfied that this is coming to an end."

De Thomassis has been waiting more than three months to bury her grandmother at the cemetery.

"We do know there's five more days of negotiations. They're still talking. It's a good thing. But, for us, until we bury our loved ones one more day is too much," she said.

Carbonneau said the situation is deplorable and said she sympathizes with the families but added thatunion members have a right to negotiate the best contract possible.

Shesaid the families will be updated as negotiations continue.