MONTRÉAL, May 13, 2024
/CNW/ - For the first time in Canada, there is a union at an Amazon
warehouse. In a decision handed down on Friday, the Administrative
Labour Tribunal (ALT) certified the Laval Amazon Workers
Union—CSN.
After conducting an investigation pursuant to the Labour
Code, the ALT determined that a majority of employees at the
DXT4 warehouse had chosen to join the union in order to negotiate
their first collective agreement. The decision is enforceable and
Amazon will be legally required to come to the bargaining
table.
"First and foremost, this is a great victory for the men and
women from Latin America,
Chad, the Maghreb and Asia who were not afraid to stand up for their
rights," says CSN President Caroline
Senneville. "Over the past few months, Amazon has pulled out
all the stops to block our unionization campaign, flooding the
workplace with scaremongering messages. DXT4 workers have given us
all a lesson in courage. Of course, we hope it spreads."
On April 19, the CSN filed an
application with the ALT to represent the 200 employees at Amazon's
DXT4 warehouse on Ernest-Cormier St. in Laval. In the preceding weeks, many workers
had signed union cards.
Amazon workers cite many reasons for dissatisfaction with their
working conditions: the frenetic pace of work, woefully inadequate
health and safety measures, and wages well below the norm at
warehouses and fulfillment centres in Québec.
Amazon plans to appeal
On May 6, even before the ALT
decision, Amazon's recently retained lawyers announced they intend
to challenge the constitutionality of section 28 of the Québec
Labour Code. In a letter to the ALT, the CSN and the
Attorney General, Amazon claims that the ALT's authority to certify
a union as the workers' representative is contrary to the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it violates the
workers' right to freedom of association by potentially depriving
them of the right to choose their representatives!
"It's been clear from the outset: Amazon has never wanted to
abide by the legal framework governing labour relations in Québec,"
says Caroline Senneville. "Now,
Amazon is actually asking for the Labour Code to be
suspended while it clogs the courts with motions in a last-ditch
effort to prevent its employees from joining together to improve
their lot. But an American multinational can't come in and dictate
our laws. We have full confidence in our judicial system and have
no doubt that it will find that our Labour Code is
consistent with the Charter, no matter what Amazon says."
In the coming days, the union will hold its first general
assembly to adopt its constitution and bylaws and elect its
representatives. It will then launch a consultation with its
members to prepare its list of demands. Under the Québec Labour
Code, Amazon will be legally required to negotiate.
More information on the drive to organize Amazon workers in
Québec: https://sesyndiquer.org/mawu/english/
Founded in 1921, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)
represents 330,000 workers in the public and parapublic sectors in
all regions of Québec and across Canada.
SOURCE CSN