Members of one of Quebec’s largest union confederations are taking legal action against Amazon over its closure of seven warehouses and demanding Canadian consumers boycott the global retailer.
The Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN), which includes around 1,600 affiliated unions and represents about 330,00 workers, said it’s not fooled by Amazon’s “blatant union-busting motives” in the company’s decision to close down Quebec warehouses last month.
The CSN accused the tech company of doing so as a means to skirt dealing with unions, which sought to acquire a collective agreement for Amazon warehouse workers.
“They’re not fooling anyone,” said CSN president Caroline Senneville. “The only reason for Amazon to have a different business model just for Quebec is that there’s a union here and an arbitrator could have imposed a first collective agreement as early as the summer of 2025.”
The CSN confirmed that legal action is underway against Amazon, calling for a halt to the company’s mass layoffs and the reopening of its warehouses.
However, Amazon maintains that the decision is not linked to potential union demands but rather its desire to return to a “third-party delivery model.”
“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,” Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait told True North.
“In making this decision, we’ve complied and will continue to comply with all applicable federal and provincial laws.”
Meanwhile, the CSN has requested that its affiliated unions review any potential Amazon contracts they may have so they can subsequently be cancelled.
“The closures announced by Amazon aren’t true closures in the legal sense, since Amazon plans to continue selling its products to Quebecers online,” said Senneville.
“Amazon thinks it can just shift the work to other corporate entities and outsource some warehousing and delivery operations. What it calls its ‘new business model’ is just an attempt to circumvent its obligations under the Labour Code. The court should recognize that this scheme violates the law and it can then order the reinstatement of Amazon’s workers.”
According to CSN, the group filed an application to represent employees at the Laval warehouse in April, arguing the closure of Amazon’s warehouses in Laval, Lachine and Saint-Hubert violates Quebec’s Labour Code.
The Administrative Labour Tribunal certified the union in May with hundreds of employees signing union cards.
Additionally, the union is urging all levels of government to cancel their contracts and for Canadian consumers to cease shopping on Amazon’s website as well as revoking any Amazon Prime subscriptions.
Parks Canada recently backpedalled on an email directive for employees to purchase office supplies from Amazon in the wake of the warehouse closures and impending U.S. tariffs.
The CSN has scheduled a demonstration against the tech giant for Feb. 15.
“A company that flouts our laws shouldn’t be allowed to do business here, let alone receive public contracts,” said Senneville.
“Many local businesses have been hard hit by the upheaval in the retail sector caused by Amazon’s arrival in Quebec. Now more than 4,500 people have lost their jobs. It’s time to take a stand against Amazon’s repeated offences and support our own businesses. Let’s stop buying from Amazon and start buying locally instead.”
