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Unionized workers at Amazon's DXT4 warehouse in Laval, Quebec, have voted unanimously in favour of implementing pressure tactics against the online retail monopolist. This decision comes after three months of sterile negotiations in which Amazon systematically dismissed all the proposals put forward by the union.
Félix Trudeau, president of the union at DXT4, explains: "We want to do actions that will, one, show the high level of worker support for union demands and for the union in general, and two, denounce Amazon's intransigent attitude."
In the spring of 2024, workers at the Laval warehouse made history by becoming the first Amazon employees in Canada to unionize. Their union is affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). If they succeed in obtaining a collective agreement, they will be the first Amazon union to do so in the world.
"Amazon told us explicitly in the negotiation meeting that they expect our agreement to serve as a model for other unionization efforts," recounts Trudeau. "Clearly, Amazon has an advantage in playing hardball with us."
Staggering injury rates at Amazon warehouses
Health and safety is one of the main themes of the negotiations, as the union seeks to set up a committee to deal with this issue.
"Our main battleground is the creation of a joint health and safety committee that would enable workers to have a real say in occupational health and safety procedures. What we want is for workers, through the union, to be able to express what the real risks are to their health and safety at work, and for them to be able to come up with solutions that will really be addressed," explains Trudeau.
The injury rate of workers at DXT4 is nearly 50%, according to figures provided by the warehouse's own management. Earlier this year, a report by the Immigrant Workers Centre and the research group GIREPS revealed that 60% of Amazon workers suffer musculoskeletal disorders and that 55% of Amazon workers have witnessed or experienced a workplace injury.
Even without a collective agreement in place, the union is already doing work on the shop floor to tackle issues related to workplace injuries. Trudeau told The North Star that the CSN is also helping to represent injured workers at the CNESST.
Amazon withholds pay increases to unionized workers
To add insult to injury, Amazon has punished workers at DXT4 by excluding them from wage increases of $1.50 per hour which it granted in September to workers at other Montreal-area warehouses, which do not have unions.
The union's position is that this violates Article 59 of the Quebec Labour Code by changing working conditions during the course of negotiations. "While there's a first-agreement negotiation, or when an agreement expires, it has to be business as usual in the company, and business as usual is that when one warehouse gets a raise, all warehouses get a raise. Not pick and choose." Trudeau explained.
While this exclusion is unjust and perhaps even illegal, the union is focused on the bigger picture when it comes to wages. "Yes, $1.50 would have been nice to have, but it's not the real increase we want. We want a real increase to eventually get to $30. What we want is a wage that allows us not only to survive, but to live well," says Trudeau.
"We're the reason Amazon makes so much money. Without us, without the warehouse workers, Amazon is nothing. What we need, what we want, is a say. Our best chance for workers to have power over their working conditions is through the union and its democracy."