Rather than accept a union contract, Amazon announced Jan. 22 it will close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec, Canada, by March and lay off 4,700 workers. The closure comes after 230 workers at Amazon’s DXT4 warehouse outside Montreal became the first-ever Amazon workers in Canada to unionize. On May 10, 2024, a government labor tribunal determined that a majority of employees wanted to be represented by Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (Federation of National Unions, CSN). Under the Québec Labour Code, that meant Amazon would have to bargain a contract with the union, and if the two sides failed to reach agreement, it would have a contract imposed by binding arbitration.
Within weeks of the union certification, lawyers for Amazon challenged the constitutionality of the Québec Labour Code in court, just as Amazon is doing in the United States against the National Labor Relations Act.
Bargaining began anyway in July 2024, but in December, a mediator from the ministry of labor said it looked like the two sides were deadlocked and the contract would go to arbitration.
That was the backdrop for the closure announcement, which Amazon claims is unrelated to the unionization. The company said it will switch to third-party delivery services rather than do its own delivery in Quebec.
The closure means layoffs for 1,900 Amazon employees at seven warehouses, including the 230 workers at DXT4, plus 2,800 workers employed by Amazon’s delivery subcontractors. It also means Amazon will leave an estimated 2 million square feet of leased warehouse space empty and unused.
The Québec Labour Code also makes it illegal to close a business to avoid legal obligations. CSN announced Feb. 4 it will go to court to seek annulment of the mass layoff and order Amazon to reopen the seven warehouses, reinstate its employees, and pay compensation and damages. CSN has also launched a nationwide boycott campaign, calling on Canadians to stop buying from Amazon, cancel Amazon Prime subscriptions, and refrain from leasing server space from Amazon Web Services.
