Montreal's Roman Catholic archbishop has called out for an end to the labour dispute that has crippled a major cemetery's operations.

"I have no button that I can push to say you get there, you get there, I have the power to bring understanding in a difficult situation," Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte told the media on Monday.

About 500 bodies remain unburied in a refrigerated cemetery vault at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges because of the lockout.

All burials have been put on hold since May 16, when about 130 cemetery employees were locked out, prompting a strike.

The union and families have asked Turcotte to intervene on more than one occasion but the archbishop has said he does not have the power to meddle in a labour dispute.

"I have been asked to intervene and I must remind everyone that I can not do so," said Turcotte in a press release dated Aug. 2.

"It is true that the law confers a certain number of powers to the bishop. However, the cemetery remains under the administration and management of the fabrique whose property it is."

Citing a legal act governing cemetery management, Turcotte said the autonomy of administrators is required.

Turcotte still decided to meet with the families to speak with them about their ordeal.

Debra de Thomassis, a woman who has been waiting to bury her grandmother and is spearheading a class-action lawsuit against the cemetery to get it working again, said the families were asked questions.

"He basically asked us how we were feeling, how we came upon to be stuck in this conflict," she said. "He totally understands out position and is with us all the way.

"I think he decided to get involved because he needed to let everybody know what was his real position, what were his real powers," she continued. "He doesn't necessarily have the powers to go into the management of the administration but he certainly has the power to let them know his position."

The families also asked if the archbishop could work out a deal where they could have a requiem and see their loved ones one more time. De Thomassis said the archbishop is looking into it.

The union has said it will not return to work until at least some of its demands are met.

According to management, salaried employees currently make an average annual income of $49,000, while seasonal workers make $27,000.

The union is demanding improvements in five key areas:

  • A defined benefit pension plan, in which workers can acquire previous years of service;
  • A four-day work week;
  • An increase in the number of weeks available to seasonal workers from 26 to 36;
  • Greater departure allowances; and 
     
    Limiting the use of subcontracting

They have been without a contract since 2003.

With a report from CTV Montreal's Annie DeMelt