First Amazon warehouse unionizing in Québec

MONTRÉAL, April 22, 2024 /CNW/ - On Friday, April 19, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) filed an application with the Administrative Labour Tribunal (ALT) to represent the 200 employees at Amazon's DXT4 warehouse in Laval. It will be the first Amazon fulfillment centre in Québec to unionize.

"After months of effort, Amazon employees succeeded in convincing their co-workers that they must stand together to win against the behemoth," said CSN President Caroline Senneville. "On Friday, we notified the Tribunal that a majority of employees at the DXT4 warehouse had signed union cards. We are asking the ALT to recognize their desire to form a union and we will be closely watching the multinational's actions in the coming days."

Over the past few weeks, employees have flocked to join the Laval Amazon Workers Union?CSN. Amazon workers cite many reasons for dissatisfaction with their working conditions: the frenetic pace of work, woefully inadequate health and safety measures, and wages well below the norm at warehouses and fulfillment centres in Québec.

"I applaud the courage and determination of Amazon workers," said Senneville. "Amazon has been waging a scare campaign at its Québec warehouses for months, flooding the workplaces with anti-union propaganda. It's time for the intimidation of employees to stop and for labour rights to be respected in Québec."

Over the next few days, the ALT will contact management at Amazon's DXT4 warehouse to inform them that a certification application has been filed and to obtain a list of the company's employees, as provided for by the Québec Labour Code. The list will enable the ALT to determine whether the union is representative ? i.e., whether a 50% + 1 majority of employees have signed a union card. If it finds that this is the case, the ALT will then certify the union as the representative of all the employees covered by the application.

Amazon has a long history of union-busting and may well use delaying tactics or other strategies to slow the unionization process, such as artificially inflating the employee list, massive hiring and spreading anti-union messages.

However, Québec labour laws are very strict on employer interference with the unionization process. Under sections 12, 13 and 15 of the Labour Code, Amazon may not hinder the activities of an association of employees nor intimidate, threaten or retaliate against workers for exercising their rights.

"We can assure Amazon employees that our legal teams are ready, and that workers' rights will be respected," said Caroline Senneville. "And we call on all workers in Amazon's other Québec warehouses to stand up for their rights?even against a giant multinational!"

For more information on the drive to organize Amazon workers in Québec: https://sesyndiquer.org/mawu/english/

Founded in 1921, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) represents 330,000 workers in the public and parapublic sectors in all regions of Québec and elsewhere in Canada.

SOURCE CSN