The news from South of the Border this morning is that grave diggers, gardeners and grounds staff at two Melbourne cemeteries has walked off the job:

Australian Workers Union Victorian Secretary Cesar Melhem said about 30 workers went on strike at 7am yesterday in a dispute over staffing levels.

Mr Melhem said the cemeteries' management was refusing to hire sufficient full-time staff, needed to maintain standards.

But a spokesperson for the General Melbourne Cemetery Trust, which ran the cemeteries, said it was working to fill vacancies.