Amazon Canada is set to close all seven of its Quebec warehouses and lay off staff over the next two months. The move, which will result in 1,700 permanent jobs and 250 temporary ones, is positioned as a way to provide “even more savings to our customers over the long run” and dismisses concerns that it was linked to a recent unionization push in the province. Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait stated that the closures are about offering the best service to customers in an efficient and cost-effective way.

The closure of the Quebec facilities will mean Amazon will revert to a business model it used in the province up until 2020, which employed local, third-party companies for package deliveries. In May, around 240 Amazon workers at the company’s DXT4 warehouse in Laval, Que. managed to unionize, becoming the first of the tech company’s Canadian warehouses to do so. The process was hard-fought with Amazon challenging the workers’ accreditation with the Confederation of National Trade Unions, which accused the company of “flooding the workplace with scaremongering messages.”

Amazon has previously responded to accusations that it is anti-union by saying it doesn’t think unions are the best option for its employees, but they have the right to join a union. The union’s legal team is considering bringing the case before the provincial labour board.

Amazon has announced the closure of its Quebec operations, including a fulfillment center, a sorting center, three delivery stations, and a facility called AMXL. The closures are part of a review of Amazon’s operations in the region, which span Lachine, Longueuil, Coteau-du-Lac, and Laval. The laid-off staff will receive up to 14 weeks of pay after the facilities close and transitional benefits such as job placement resources. Quebec Premier Francois Legault expressed sadness over the decision but did not speculate on the reasons behind it.

The closure of the Quebec facilities after Laval unionization also raises concerns about an Amazon warehouse in Delta, B.C., which was certifying for unionization last year but the results of that vote are sealed due to an unfair labour practices complaint the union filed, which alleges Amazon ramped up hiring to try to dilute union support. Amazon has denied the allegations and said the decision undermined the rights of the majority of employees who chose not to sign union cards.

Michael Lynk, a professor emeritus of law at Western University, believes that any Amazon location where unionization efforts have been underway should have a “genuine worry” that they might be shut down as well. Amazon’s latest Canadian investment report states that the company has 34 delivery stations, 23 fulfillment centers, six sorting centres, and six AMXL facilities, along with three corporate offices and two tech hubs, in the country.

The DXT4 warehouse in Laval is the only unionized Amazon facility in Canada and received accreditation in May after two years of organizing with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). Since July, the union had been working to negotiate a collective agreement. 

CSN said in a statement that it learned about the closures on January 22 via email from one of Amazon’s lawyers and that “there is no doubt that the closures announced today are part of an anti-union campaign against the CSN and against Amazon employees.”

Source: Financial Post
Source: Globe and Mail
Source: The Star
Source: Financial Post