Quebec’s proposal for arbitration appears to agree with both company management and union factions to find a solution to the conflict that has paralyzed activities at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery for six months.
On Monday, Labor Minister Jean Boulet met the two parties, offering them the option of arbitration to find a solution to a dispute that has been going on “too long”.
“We have made it clear that no negotiations can take place if malicious actions continue at Notre-Dame Basilica and secondary pickets outside administrators’ homes,” said Michel St-Amour, honorary administrator of the Made.
“If we do not reach a satisfactory agreement within the timeframe suggested by the Minister, recourse to arbitration seems to be the right way to resolve any remaining disputes while also completing the clean-up and resuming normal cemetery operations as soon as possible,” added he added.
The minister has given the two parties 48 hours to decide on his proposal for an arbitrator, allowing the chief mediator and arbitrator to continue working to reach a new negotiated settlement.
“We are looking at possible solutions with the minister and I think that the next few days will give us an indication of where we are going,” the leader of the workers’ union at the cemetery, Patrick Chartrand, told TVA Nouvelles between Mr Boulet and the union representatives.