Early Saturday morning, more than 75 people blocked a CN rail yard in the industrial neighbourhood of Saint-Laurent in Montreal. Activists prevented dozens of trucks from leaving and entering the yard for over an hour. Activists from Workers' Alliance and the “Here We Boycott Amazon” campaign organized the blockade to conclude their week of action and economic perturbation.
The week of action sought to maintain pressure on the Quebec government for their inaction following Amazon's anti-union manoeuvre of shutting down all its warehouses in the province. Targets of the week of action have included Hydro-Québec, Amazon Web Services, Canada Post, and the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund.
Several members of the Laval Amazon Workers Union (STTAL–CSN) were in attendance. The North Star spoke with Felix Trudeau, president of the union.
“We're here today because ever since the Amazon warehouse closures, since the mass layoffs, we've been ignored by the government,” explained Trudeau. “We're here to remind the Quebec government and the leaders of multinationals that laid-off Amazon workers exist, that we deserve respect and that we're ready to fight to the bitter end to get that respect.”
Amazon Freight, which has been in operation since 2018, uses CN's intermodal shipping (moving freight using two or more transportation modes) network while they have been in the process of developing their own.
“Certainly, with the trucks lined up here that we're blocking, I think it's easy to guess that there are Amazon parcels in there somewhere. Of course, there's all this transit of goods that goes through CN and which, normally, should have ended up with us, in our warehouses, processed by us,” said Trudeau.
Among those participating in the action was a group of blue-collar city workers. Their union, the Syndicat des cols bleus regroupés de Montréal–CUPE 301, are currently in negotiations with the City of Montreal. Union member Simon Biard shared his thoughts with The North Star .
“We, the blue-collar workers of Montreal, are here in class solidarity with our Amazon comrades who have been thrown out into the street like common trash by an American multinational that we have showered with public funds.”
“Taxpayers' money is being used to throw 5,000 workers out on the street. So we're here in response to a multitude of attacks by the CAQ government on the working class on several fronts, unprecedented attacks on the working class. We're here to reclaim a part of our union democracy that we've neglected,” says Biard. “The working class must stand united!”
The North Star spoke with truckers who were held up by the blockade, and the majority expressed their sympathy and solidarity with Amazon workers. Denis Letourneux, a member of the STTAL–CSN and Workers' Alliance, passed out flyers to the truckers and observed similar sentiments:
“I think I handed out about 50 leaflets explaining our cause. Out of 50, only three people were not happy. On the whole, the workers welcomed me. I didn't talk to them about it, but there are people who honk for us, who encourage us. That's even better.”
For Letourneux, there is a clear reason that the truckers support the cause of Amazon workers, despite the inconvenience they faced from the blockade.
“They're employees like everyone else. I think society as a whole hates multinationals,” he remarked. “I have the impression that workers, more and more, are realizing that we're being led by billionaires and by the companies that run them.”
The majority of the truckers that The North Star spoke with were contractors for CN. A few owned their trucks while others worked under a contracted company, and only a few were employed directly through the CN subsidiary, CN Transportation.
The majority of the truckers reported that working for CN was a negative experience. They say the company underpays their contractors and workers in comparison to industry standards, treats their employees poorly and cuts corners relating to quality standards and health and safety.
CN workers voted to strike nationally last year due to a major deterioration in work conditions. Instead of negotiating in good faith, CN and CPKC (Canadian Pacific) locked out their workers and put the Canadian economy in a chokehold until the government intervened with a back-to-work order.
Trudeau was unsurprised by government responses to recent labour disputes:
“I obviously think that the federal and provincial governments are business governments, governments that are there to serve the interests of the capitalist class. You can see it in their actions. Despite their words, it's action that speaks loudest.”
He continues: “The working class is the class that drives the economy. It's thanks to us that everything moves. Without us, nothing moves. Without CN workers, nothing moves. Without truckers, nothing moves. I think it's important to remember that ultimately, we should have much stronger solidarity than any attack from multinationals or the government.”
