Employer will appeal decision of province's Administrative Labour Tribunal
Workers at Amazon’s Laval warehouse in Quebec have been allowed to unionize, according to reports.
The about 200 workers at the DXT4 warehouse are the first Amazon employees in Canada to be approved for unionization after the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal’s decision on Friday.
The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) is hoping to better protect employees and have the company consider the physical limitations of what a human being can do.
"They told us that the usual greeting between them...they say, 'How's your back?'" said Caroline Senneville, CSN president, in a CTV News report. "It's a really fast-paced environment. “ “Somebody can move up to 300 or even 400 boxes an hour, and some of these boxes are very heavy."
The employer has been fighting workers’ efforts to unionize, said Senneville
The Laval workers “have given us all a lesson in courage,” she said in a Global News report.
“Over the past few months, Amazon has pulled out all the stops to block our unionization campaign, flooding the workplace with scaremongering messages,” Senneville said.
In 2023, Amazon announced it is expanding its slate of language programs globally under its Career Choice program, offering English-language classes in the 13 non-U.S. countries the program operates, as well as local language classes in some countries.
Why does Amazon not want a union?
Amazon, however, is challenging the labour board’s decision to certify the union, according to both Global News and CTV News.
"Card check auto-certification" does not allow individuals to have their voices heard, argued the employer.
“If a simple majority of people at an employer have joined a union at any point...then there’s no vote and representation is automatic for all employees," said Barbara M. Agrait, an Amazon spokesperson. "We believe everyone should have the right to get informed and vote based on their current circumstances and beliefs.”
Not all provinces have card-check certification, but Quebec and British Columbia are among those that do, noted Globale News.
However, "being part of a union is not the employer's choice. It's the employees' choice,” said CSN, according to the CTV News report.
"It is protected under the Charter of Rights, both in Quebec and in Canada," Senneville said. "So, the right to associate, the right to form a union is protected under the law, whether you like it or not as an employer."
Last month, Unifor said that unionization efforts at two Amazon fulfilment centres in Metro Vancouver will have to wait after it temporarily withdrew its application with the B.C. Labour Relations Board (BCLRB). The move came as Amazon provided a “suspiciously high number” of employees,” according to the union.
“Make no mistake: workers at Amazon in Metro Vancouver are closer than ever to successfully forming a union,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western regional director. “The number of workers provided by Amazon is suspiciously high, but with this information we know precisely what our next steps are to help these workers form their union.”
