By CASEY NEILL
CEMETERY strikes in Springvale and Bangholme are leaving families anxious and distressed and delaying funerals by up to a week, according to Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT).
But the Australian Workers Union (AWU) remains adamant their rolling stoppages will not affect the public.
Industrial action started at Springvale Botanical Cemetery and Bunurong Memorial Park on 16 August, with workers unprepared to accept the new enterprise agreement SMCT put forward.
“Our best efforts to schedule around this campaign and to cut back our bookings in order to continue to provide our usual standard of service to grieving families is now being tested,” SMCT CEO Jonathan Tribe said.
“Several funeral directors have informed us that their clients are now experiencing anxiety and distress as a result of delays and uncertainty of times for services brought about by the reduction in our bookings.”
Mr Tribe said families were being forced to wait up to 10 days for a funeral, rather than the normal three to five days.
“One family had members take time off work and travel interstate only to have to return home before the burial because the only booking available was after their holidays had run out,” he said.
He said another family had to bury their relative elsewhere, and the cemetery had copped criticism for accommodating Jewish and Islamic burials ahead of others on the basis of religious observance.
Mr Tribe said the AWU should encourage workers to stop the “pointless campaign”.
Australian Workers Union (AWU) Victorian secretary Ben Davis said a compromise was no closer following a meeting on 21 August.
“We resolved a couple of minor issues but the big ticket items are still outstanding,” he said.
“The negotiations are at a stalemate.”
He said the deal on the table would see workers lose public holiday allowances and 13 of their 26 rostered days off in exchange for a four per cent per year pay rise.
More negotiations are scheduled for 4 September and Mr Davis said stop-work meetings would continue until then.
“We have to give them (SMCT) three clear days’ notice before we do anything,” he said.
“They just don’t book anything for the times we’re not at work.
“They can work around it.”
Mr Tribe said SMCT was determined to re-shape the organisation to be more responsive to the community’s needs.
“We have been negotiating with our workers and the union for the past 15 months,” he said.
“During this time we have submitted five offers and they have all been rejected, without any alternatives being proposed.”
