'Quebec is going to be really a litmus test,' says organizer as company negotiates first collective agreement
There is a lot hanging on the first contract negotiation for the unionized workers at Amazon in Quebec, according to experts.
In May this year, workers at Amazon’s Laval warehouse in Quebec were allowed to unionize.
The roughly 200 workers at the DXT4 warehouse are the first Amazon employees in Canada to be approved for unionization. They are represented by the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).
Currently, the union is negotiating for the workers’ first contract.
And Amazon has no choice but to cooperate because of the first contract arbitration rule in Quebec, where parties can request arbitration for a first collective agreement, according to experts in a report on CTV News.
Amazon is "basically facing a choice of negotiating an agreement or having one imposed on them," said Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University.
Negotiations at Laval could open the door for more unionization at Amazon warehouses in other parts of Canada, said Caroline Senneville, president of the CSN, said in the CTV report, as achieving a contract in Laval would show workers at other warehouses that "it can be done.”
Amazon is challenging the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal’s decision to certify the union.
Recently, Quebec’s Administrative Labour Tribunal ordered Amazon to refrain from making any statements or publishing any messages that have the purpose or effect of criticizing or denigrating the organizing campaign or questioning the usefulness of a union.
"Quebec is going to be really a litmus test," said Mostafa Henaway, an organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal who researches Amazon workers at Concordia University, in the same CP report posted on CTV News.
In April, Unifor temporarily withdrew its application for unionization at Amazon fulfilment centres in New Westminster and Delta in British Columbia after the employer provided a “suspiciously high number” of employees,” according to the union.
CSN has also previously accused Amazon of anti-unionization campaigns.
"We've known for years that this is a viciously anti-union company, and they basically are going to try every trick in the book,” said Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University, in the CTV report.
In the same report, however, Amazon denied the claim, saying that workers have the choice to unionize if they want to. However, Amazon spokeswoman Barbara Agrait, said that the firm believes unionization is not the best option for workers.
"We favour opportunities for each person to be respected and valued as an individual, and to have their unique voice heard by working directly with our team," she said.
