(Montreal) Negotiations are at a standstill between the union of employees of the DXT4 warehouse of the giant Amazon, in Laval, and the employer.
This warehouse is Amazon’s only one to be unionized in Canada and negotiations to conclude a first collective agreement have not advanced a single paragraph, including the simplest definitions, since talks began a year ago. three months.
The approximately 230 employees therefore initiated light pressure tactics, including posters inside the warehouse and buttons in support of their negotiating committee. Some moderate gradation, for example symbolic picketing, is planned, but there is no work stoppage on the horizon, as the union does not have a strike mandate at the moment.
Labor relations have proven difficult from the start, with Amazon still challenging the unionization itself before the Administrative Labor Tribunal (TAT), although the TAT officially accredited the union last May.
Furthermore, the CSN intends to take another action against Amazon because its members did not receive the salary increase of $1.50 per hour granted on September 29 to all employees of other Amazon warehouses in the Montreal region. The union intends to argue that the Labor Code imposes an obligation on Amazon to maintain working conditions following unionization, which includes paying annual raises regardless of the eventual outcome of the negotiation.
The union sees this as a lack of respect and accuses Amazon of seeking to both penalize its employees for unionizing and discourage unionization in its other warehouses.
Either way, the union hopes to get much bigger raises, arguing that the average wage for its members working in warehouses is $26 an hour, while those at DXT4 earn $20 to $21.50 per hour. ‘hour.
In a written statement sent early evening, an Amazon spokesperson, Austin Stowe, said that “we remain committed to negotiating in good faith. We are disappointed that the CSN filed a request for conciliation without having attempted to negotiate with us, following only two meetings and an initial exchange of proposals. »
Health and safety
The issue of health and safety at work promises to be important in the file, while, according to warehouse management, there have been 117 work accidents since the start of 2024, or on average one every two days and a half.
On this point, the Amazon spokesperson argues that “we are proud of the progress we have made across our delivery network in Canada to reduce the number of injuries requiring employee time off work to recover. However, we are never completely satisfied and we will continue to work to improve security, not only at DXT4, but across the entire network. »