The online retail giant, Amazon, has announced the closing of all its warehouses in Quebec. The company says the move is part of a reorganization and a cost-cutting measure. One Amazon spokesperson says it has nothing to do with the unionization of a couple of hundred employees in Laval, Quebec, last spring.
A total of 17 hundred employees in Quebec as well as 250 temporary or seasonal workers will be affected by the closure. Amazon says the regular employees will receive severance packages of up to 14 weeks’ pay as well as transitional benefits, once facilities close. The online retailer says it will return to its third-party model that will be supported by small local businesses.
Caroline Senneville the president of CSN, the union representing the organized workers says the announcement is outrageous. She says thousands of people will be laid off by a company that is well known for its anti-union stance.
“My message to Amazon is always the same. If our money here in Canada is good enough for you, then our labor laws should be good enough for you too,” Senneville said.
Senneville says the right to form a union is protected by the Charter of Rights in Canada but adds that Amazon doesn’t want to deal with a union. She says it’s also no surprise that many of the workers wanted to form a union.
“Because they make at least eight dollars an hour less than other paying jobs in Quebec. Because of health and safety measures. It’s really hard working at Amazon. The pace is incredible, and injuries are skyrocketing, and they’re really discouraged to go to the doctor, to go to our own compensation plan here in Quebec,” Senneville said. “It’s pretty strenuous and really hard to work there.”
Senneville says CSN’s legal department is looking into the issue.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault says Amazon’s decision is regrettable, but there’s little he can do about a private company’s decision.