Amazon to close Quebec facilities, insists it’s not because of new union

Amazon announced on Wednesday it will shutter its facilities in Quebec in the coming weeks and cut more than 1,700 jobs.

A company spokesperson said Amazon will outsource deliveries to smaller contractors. The spokesperson insisted that the decision was tied to cost savings — not the recent unionization of about 300 employees at a Laval, Que., warehouse. 

“Following a recent review of our Quebec operations,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, “we found that returning to a third-party delivery model supported by local small businesses, similar to the one we had until 2020, will enable us to offer the same excellent service and deliver even greater savings to our customers in the long term.”

It was not immediately clear when Amazon would close its facilities, but the spokesperson told Radio-Canada it would happen in the “next two months.” 

Quebec is home to Amazon’s only unionized workforce in Canada. Workers in Laval unionized last year, saying they were dissatisfied with what they described as a hectic work pace, low wages and inadequate health and safety measures.

Union denounces decision

The CSN, the union federation that represents the workers, released a statement denouncing the closures. 

The union said it had learned of Amazon’s decision to close its Quebec facilities early Wednesday when it received an email from an Amazon lawyer. 

“This decision makes no sense whatsoever,” CSN president Caroline Senneville said in a statement. “Neither from a business point of view, nor from an operational point of view. Amazon, one of the most integrated companies between the click of a mouse and home delivery, would entrust all its warehousing and distribution operations throughout Quebec to a third party?”

At the Amazon facility in Laval where workers had unionized, Nedim Sab, a supervisor, said workers were crying. 

“What are we going to do now? We have to start over,” he said. “I was a driver. Now I am a supervisor. Now they’re going to erase everything for me.”

He blamed the union for the closure. He said Amazon had been very unhappy about the unionization efforts and he said he didn’t see the need for a union. His salary, he said, was over $23 per hour. 

“I don’t think this job needs to get unionized,” he said. “Amazon is really not happy with the union. I don’t know, it’s so sad.” 

Mahzad Shayegan, a dispatcher, said he and his colleagues had been told they were going to lose their jobs in two weeks. He said he would have to go on welfare. 

“Looking for a job is not good now. It’s not a good time,” he said.

At a recent demonstration, the Laval workers said they were demanding $26 per hour, a $6 pay increase. 

Amazon had said…