A woman whose family has spearheaded a class-action lawsuit against a Montreal cemetery for its failure to bury her grandmother said conditions at the burial grounds are getting worse as a two-month-long labour dispute simmers.

"It looks as if it's abandoned," Debra de Thomassis told CTV's Canada AM. "Grass is very high. Family members that do go there and try to dignify the memory of their family members are doing what they can, but they're not supposed to be doing that. The cemetery is supposed to be functioning and that is supposed to be taken care of."

A work disruption at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery has meant that there have been no burials or cremations for almost two months.

As a result the cemetery, which receives approximately 50 bodies a week, is using a refrigerated trailer to hold bodies and has been forced to stack coffins to maximize available space in its storage facility.

As well as long grass -- that is, in some cases, completely obscuring family tombstones -- weed and wildflowers have also begun to accumulate.

The cemetery is the final resting place for many Quebec luminaries such as legendary hockey player Maurice Richard.

According to de Thomassis the lawsuit has been launched to address two main issues.

"The first objective is to get my grandmother and all these other family members -- (to) get their burials started," de Thomassis said.

"That's the main objective. But the lawsuit in itself is to start to put pressure on both sides to sit down and talk. We're looking at the damages -- the moral damages (and) punitive damages -- and we're also looking for a reduction of 50 per cent of the contracts that were signed by these individuals before they passed. Some contracts are as old as 1977 and 1987."

De Thomassis said the $10,000 contract for her grandmother's burial was signed in 1986. The lawsuit is also asking for a reimbursement of $100 per person per day that the lockout has continued.

130 employees were locked-out on May 16 and there have been no meetings between the two sides since May 8.

The time that has passed since the last meeting is alarming to de Thomassis.

"We're actually asking the government to step in...What would happen if...Health Canada had to step in. It might be a health hazard at one point," de Thomassis said.

With files from the Canadian Press