The 200 workers at Amazon’s Laval warehouse have succeeded where many other employees of the American multinational have failed: they are now unionized.
According to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), the Administrative Labour Tribunal certified the Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs d’Amazon Laval-CSN last Friday, making the DXT4 warehouse workers the first of their kind to unionize in Canada.
Following a petition filed in April by the CSN to have the union recognized, the court ruled that the majority of warehouse employees wanted to join the union and begin negotiations leading to a first collective agreement.
With the union now certified, Amazon is legally obliged to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the warehouse’s employees, according to the CSN.
However, the multinational has already indicated that it intends to contest the verdict, according to the union federation.
Despite this, CSN President Caroline Senneville describes the announcement as a “great victory” for the warehouse workers, many of whom hail from places like Latin America, Africa and Asia, “who were not afraid to stand up for their rights.”
— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 13, 2024.