Union workers rally outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse
/ Photo by Craig McDowell
SYRACUSE -- Union members are showing their support for cemetery workers in Syracuse.
Members of SEIU Local 200United say the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse is union busting. They say six gravediggers with the St. Mary's-St. Agnes Cemetery Corporation are being pushed out of their jobs. The corporation is being dissolved and brought under the umbrella of the Catholic Cemeteries of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.
Union members rallied outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse Wednesday, chanting things like "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" and "What's disgusting? Union busting!"
Union leaders say the Cemetery Corporation is being insincere. "It is disingenuous for the Cemetery to say that this is to keep costs in line one minute and then the next say that all cemetery workers make similar wages. If that is the case how much could they possibly save?" says Dawn Clarry, Political Director for SEIU Local 200United.
Demonstrators also say the six workers reapplied for their jobs nearly a month ago, but have not heard anything back and don't know their futures.
CNY Central spoke with a representative from the Roman Catholic Diocese, Danielle Cummings, who says the dissolution plan still needs approval from New York State. Cummings says the job applications from the six workers have been received, but can not be reviewed without that state approval. The dissolution is expected to be approved sometime in September.
St. Mary's-St. Agnes is the last of 13 independent cemeteries in the Syracuse region to be brought under the Catholic Cemeteries umbrella. The Diocese says the change is part of an overall plan to "secure the sustainability of the cemeteries by sharing staff, resources, and materials." Cummings points out cemeteries "are different from other organizations in that care is entrusted in perpetuity. Care continues long after you and I are gone. Decisions are difficult, but necessary in order to ensure that the cemeteries exist into the future."
Cummings says St. Mary's-St. Agnes is the only independent cemetery in the Syracuse region that used union workers. She says union and non-union workers within the Catholic Cemetery Corporation receive identical benefits and similar salaries.
There are other cemeteries in the Syracuse region not run by the Catholic Cemeteries Corporation. Those are run by local parishes.
