An Amazon warehouse and distribution centre in an industrial park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022.
Graham Hughes | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Amazon is ready to face authorized motion from a Canadian union after the corporate’s resolution to wind down warehouse operations in Quebec.
The Federation of Nationwide Commerce Unions, referred to as CSN, stated Tuesday it plans to petition a courtroom to order Amazon to reopen seven warehouses and restore the 1,700 jobs misplaced on account of the closures.
Amazon introduced late final month it might section out seven websites in Quebec “following a latest assessment” of its operations within the province, which is the one location in Canada with unionized Amazon workers. The corporate stated it might return to a third-party supply mannequin, enlisting subcontractors to deal with deliveries.
“Amazon thinks it might probably simply shift the work to different company entities and outsource some warehousing and supply operations,” CSN president Caroline Senneville stated in a press release. “What it calls the ‘new enterprise mannequin’ is simply an try to bypass its obligations beneath the Labour Code. The courtroom ought to acknowledge that this scheme violates the legislation and it might probably then order the reinstatement of Amazon’s employees.”
Representatives from Amazon didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The CSN represents roughly 240 Amazon employees at a warehouse close to the Montreal suburb of Laval. Employees on the website unionized final Could, turning into the primary Amazon warehouse in Canada to take action.
Following the closures, Canada’s business minister Francoise-Philippe Champagne wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy expressing his “disappointment” over the choice, saying it “raises questions on your dedication to Canada and your Canadian companions.”
Champagne stated the federal government would think about conducting a assessment of its present offers with Amazon.
Amazon additionally faces rising labor stress within the U.S. Employees at an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina are slated to vote subsequent week on whether or not to hitch a union, whereas Complete Meals employees in Philadelphia voted final month to hitch the United Meals and Business Employees union.
Amazon workers at a facility in Staten Island, New York, in 2022 fashioned the corporate’s first union at a U.S. warehouse, although they’ve but to safe a contract. The group voted to affiliate with the Teamsters final June.
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