The Société des alcools du Québec is following in the footsteps of Amazon by wanting to centralize and automate its online order assembly service, deplores the union of SAQ.com employees
Posted at 11:59
“We are against the idea of transforming the SAQ into a bottle vending machine,” says Lisa Courtemanche, president of the SEMB-SAQ-CSN union, which represents some 200 workers (53 regular and 150 part-time). ) from SAQ.com.
Go back. In February 2021, the Crown corporation announced that it would invest $48.5 million to expand its distribution center in Montreal by 200,000 square feet and to equip itself with an automated order picking system. The objective: to offer a variety of 20,000 products online – there are currently 3,000 – and enable customers to receive their delivery within 24 hours. Currently, an order placed online takes about three to five days before arriving on the doorstep of wine and spirits lovers. To do this, SAQ.com employees learned on May 5 that they would be repatriated to the distribution center in September and that they would change their union certification. A “centralizing” method denounced by the SEMB-SAQ-CSN, by means of a press release on Friday.
“There is no guarantee that with automation, jobs will be preserved,” argued Mr.me Courtemanche in interview. She also fears that by wanting to increase the number of items available online, the SAQ will reduce the diversity of products in outlets. “The SAQ is withdrawing niche products, which it will only offer online to increase its traffic. There will be less customer service that will be provided and there will be positions that will be eliminated in the branches. »
The union is instead proposing a “decentralized” approach that would allow customers from all over Quebec to buy products online available in a branch near them, instead of having their orders systematically go through the distribution center in the metropolis. .
“The consolidation of our unit picking activities will be done without job losses: this was true when the project to expand and modernize our Montreal Distribution Center was announced, it is still true today, assured the spokesperson for the SAQ Clémence Beaulieu Gendron, in an email sent to The Press. Our site dedicated to the preparation of online orders is operating at full capacity and does not allow us to respond to the growth in online sales. »
She points out that the increase in the number of products available online and delivery within 24 hours are services that “Quebecers demand”. Mme Beaulieu Gendron also wants to be reassuring for the employees who work in the store. “Our branches and personalized service are appreciated by our customers and 96% of our sales are made in store. Our branches are here to stay, everywhere in Quebec. »