Union takes step to represent Amazon warehouse workers in Laval, Que.
A Quebec-based union is trying to represent hun‐ dreds of Amazon.com Inc. workers at a warehouse in Laval, Que., a first of its kind in Canada if they suc‐ ceed.
The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) says it filed an application with Quebec's Administrative Labour Tribunal on Friday to represent some 200 employ‐ ees at the DXT4 warehouse.
The union, which repre‐ sents 330,000 workers across a wide array of industries, announced the news in front of the Laval facility on Mon‐ day.
CSN president Caroline Senneville says workers are subject to unhealthy and dangerous working condi‐ tions, a hectic pace that has led to workplace injuries and a pay considerably lower than other warehouses in the province.
"People are afraid. They're living in precarity. A lot of workers come from abroad and don't know their rights," said Senneville.
The CSN says the tribunal will now have to ensure the union cards warehouse workers signed represent a majority of staff at the facil‐ ity.
It also says Amazon has a history of employing tactics like artificially inflating em‐ ployee lists and hiring new workers to delay or stall unionization.
"We have to get the union recognized by the Ministry of Labour and then the next step is giving the workers of Amazon here a good working contract," said Senneville, adding that the majority of workers at warehouses have signed union cards.
Former employee al‐ leges poor conditions
One year ago, Benoît Dumais used to work at the Laval warehouse. Now, he's one of the people sporting the union's colours, even if he left his job.
"I've seen people get in‐ jured. I've seen people get harassed, cry because man‐ agers are screaming at them, get followed to the toilets 'cause they can't take toilet breaks," he said.
Dumais says not all work‐ ers there are aware of their rights, and he wants to fight on behalf of his old co-work‐ ers to help them organize and stand up for themselves.
A spokesperson for Ama‐ zon told CBC News that the decision to unionize is up to workers.
"Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union," it said in a statement.
In spite of the CSN's claims about poor working conditions, Amazon said it "already offers what many unions are requesting: safe and inclusive workplaces, competitive pay, health bene‐ fits on day one and opportu‐ nities for career growth."
Earlier this month, Unifor filed applications to repre‐ sent workers at two Amazon warehouses in New Westmin‐ ster and Delta, B.C.
Shortly after, the union wound up temporarily with‐ drawing the applications and accusing the e-commerce gi‐ ant of providing a "suspi‐ ciously high" employee count that stymied its efforts.
Currently, the only Ama‐ zon warehouse in North
America to have successfully unionized is in New York City's Staten Island borough.
Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet said it's up to the tribunal to make sure the certification process is fol‐ lowed.
"The workers' choice, whatever it may be, must be respected," he said in a state‐ ment.
1 warehouse isn't enough, sociologist says
Barry Eidlin, an associate pro‐ fessor of sociology at McGill University with a focus on labour policy, says getting union representation would represent a shift in the bal‐ ance of power in the work‐ place.
"It has the potential of being the opening shot in an effort to organize the com‐ pany. But on its own there's still a long way to go and it's just a first step," he said.
The next step would be getting a contract, something that is no easy task.
"That is a tough bill for when we're dealing with Amazon because Amazon re‐ sists at every step of the way," he said, adding that there will be no unionized Amazon in Canada without a broader push for unioniza‐ tion across the country.
Amazon is "going to have to feel pressure from several warehouses and even there, given Amazon's size and their anti-union animus, we can't exclude the possibility that they would just, you know, pull out of Quebec entirely," he said.
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