Amazon warehouse workers in Quebec are grappling with the looming closures of all seven Amazon warehouses in the province and the associated layoffs which were announced early Wednesday morning.
More than 1,700 permanent employees and 250 temporary workers are set to lose their jobs. Quebec contains the only unionized Amazon warehouse in Canada, which sits in a suburb north of Montreal.
“This is a slap in the face for all the workers in Quebec,” Caroline Senneville, president of the Confederation des syndicats nationaux (CSN), said in a statement translated from French. “Since the beginning of our campaign three years ago, Amazon has done everything to prevent its employees from unionizing: fear campaigns, anti-union messages, challenging the Labor Code, disguised dismissals… And today, we learn that the multinational prefers to withdraw from Quebec rather than comply with its obligation to negotiate a collective agreement? This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait asserted these closures are about offering the best service in an efficient and cost effective way, said a report by the Canadian Press. Senneville, however, said “there’s no doubt” warehouses in Quebec are closing because of an anti-union campaign.
LISTEN: Efforts to unionize Amazon warehouses and improve working conditions for all
In May, Amazon opposed the certification of the union at its warehouse in Laval but lost its challenge in October. In August, Amazon faced repercussions from the Quebec’s administrative workers tribunal (TAT). The company was directed to stop interfering with unionizing efforts at its Lachine facility and was fined a total of $30,000 in moral and punitive damages.
“This decision makes no sense,” Senneville said. “Neither from a business perspective nor from an operational one. Amazon, one of the companies most integrated from the click of a mouse to home delivery, would entrust all of its warehousing and distribution operations across Quebec to a third party?”
NDP labour critic Matthew Green said Amazon’s decision is shameful and an attack on workers’ rights.
“This is a wake-up call,” Green said in a staetment. “For years, the Liberals have let workers down by refusing to hold billionaire corporations and their CEOs, like Amazon, to account and now we’re seeing the result.”
The federal liberals and conservatives had not commented on the situation at the time of writing this article.
Work to secure a collective agreement at the Laval warehouse was progressing despite Amazon’s blockages, CSN said.
“The CSN will never abandon its mission to unionize the workforce and defend the rights of workers, no matter the multinational that stands before us – and no matter what anti-union strategy is used,” Senneville said. “We will support the DXT4 workers in all the steps and challenges that must be undertaken in the coming days,”
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
.jpg){kind=link}