Quebec union plans legal action against Amazon over closures
'This is not the way we do business in Quebec,' says CSN president
The union representing Amazon workers at a warehouse that was shut down last month is calling for a boycott and preparing a legal challenge against the company.
Caroline Senneville, head of the CSN union, held a news conference this morning, flanked by workers, to denounce the actions of the retail giant.
She said the company's closures in Quebec were a clear attempt to avoid having to sign a collective agreement for the first time in North America.
"For us, it's clear that the move by Amazon is profoundly, essentially, anti-union," Senneville said.
"This is not the way we do business in Quebec. This is not the way we do business in Canada."
On Jan. 22, Amazon announced it would shut all seven of its facilities in Quebec, lay off 1,700 permanent employees and outsource its work to third-party companies.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Laval, Que., successfully unionized last May. It was billed as a historic first in Canada at the retail giant. The union was poised to sign a collective agreement as soon as this summer.
Amazon has only one other unionized workforce in North America, in Staten Island, N.Y. It was certified in 2022 but still doesn't have a contract.
Experts say Quebec's stronger labour laws would have soon forced the two parties to negotiate a collective agreement or could have imposed arbitration on them if they didn't reach a deal.
Amazon has maintained the decision to close its seven facilities was about reducing costs.
"We made this decision because we've seen that returning to a third-party delivery model in Quebec supported by local small businesses, similar to what we had until 2020, will allow us to provide the same great service and even more savings to our customers over the long run," said Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait in an email Tuesday evening.
"In making this decision, we've complied and will continue to comply with all applicable federal and provincial laws."
Union points to Walmart ruling
Michael Cordova, who worked as a "picker," helping to assemble orders at an Amazon warehouse in Lachine, was at Tuesday's event.
He said his job was physically demanding and he had hoped a union would help protect him and his fellow employees.
"In any society you need a counterbalance. We didn't have that," he said.
"Without a union, it's difficult to negotiate with an employer."
Senneville said the union is preparing to launch a legal challenge in the coming weeks, noting it has 30 days to do so following the closures. She said the closures violate articles of the provincial Labour Code dealing with obstruction of union activities, and the union will be seeking compensation for the workers affected.
The union's lawyers will also point to an earlier decision against Walmart, which shut down a store in Jonquière, Que., in 2004, shortly after it unionized, she said. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled the company had defied Quebec labour law in that case.
Senneville also called on all levels of government to cancel contracts with Amazon, including its cloud services, and for the public to boycott the company to show its support for workers.
Buying local has already become a priority for some Quebecers after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threat.
"If it makes people think more about what they do when they buy things, I think that's a good thing," Senneville said of the buy-local sentiment.
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With files from Gloria Henriquez