More than 50 people demonstrated in Trois-Rivières to denounce the CAQ's inaction in the face of the firing of 4,700 Amazon workers in Quebec. Activists from the Here We Boycott Amazon campaign, Workers' Alliance and the Laval Amazon Workers' Union (STTAL) gathered in front of the Minister of Labour's home. They then moved on to a warehouse belonging to Intelcom, the company that handles Amazon deliveries, to finish in front of Jean Boulet's offices in downtown Trois-Rivières.
On the sidelines of the demonstration, STTAL president Félix Trudeau declared in an interview with The North Star, “Today, we're launching the week of action against Amazon, against the CAQ's attacks on the working class.”
These attacks include Boulet's proposed Bill 89, which directly attacks workers' right to strike. Also on the list is Minister Drainville's Bill 94, which limits teachers' autonomy.
Protest organizers decry the fact that the CAQ legislates against workers, but remains mute in the face of companies that flout Quebec's Labor Code.
“The government is privatizing a lot of social services. It's cutting a lot of services, a lot of jobs in the public sector. It's really a government at the service of big business, at the service of big capital,” explains Mr. Trudeau.
He adds, “We are told that we have the right to unionize, that workers in Quebec have the right to negotiate their collective agreements and to improve their conditions. But what we see is that they don't. If the American multinational decides that we don't have the right to improve our conditions, what happens? They close down, and the government does nothing. It waits for the complaints, to take their course, which will take years.”
In fact, what appears to be happening is that the Quebec government is complicit. The Minister of Labour has given Amazon an exemption for the reclassification committee, which was supposed to help laid-off workers find new jobs.
At the federal level, the Liberal government's proximity to Amazon's subcontractor Intelcom was repeatedly denounced during the demonstration. Jean-Sébastien Joly, brother of Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Minister Mélanie Joly, is the CEO of the parcel delivery company.
When intercepted by our journalists to find out if she had played a role in the acquisition of Amazon subcontracts by her brother's company, the Minister refused to answer our questions.
None of the parties in the federal election race have come out in defence of Amazon's laid-off workers, points out Louisa Worrell, co-spokesperson for the Here, We Boycott Amazon campaign.
“We're here to denounce not just the inaction of the Caquist government, but the inaction of all federal parties. It's the eve of the election and we're really here to shine a light on all the injustice the labour movement is going through.”
“The fact that Amazon is deciding to leave and outsource to Intelcom, it's just really symbolic of the alliance between the Canadian bourgeoisie and the American bourgeoisie. Do Intelcom or Amazon workers really feel any difference in their power over their working conditions? No.”
The various groups ended the demonstration with a call to participate in the Workers' Alliance week of actions and disruptions taking place from April 27 to May 3 and to join them at the May 1 march in Montreal.