Montreal’s Amazon workers are looking to unionize. Some workers at Montreal's Lachine facility have been mobilizing to unionize, but have been faced with union-busting from higher ups at Amazon.

This follows Staten Island Amazon becoming the  first Amazon location to unionize  this past Spring – a victory which Amazon is trying to overturn.

Below industry wages, unsafe work conditions, scrutiny from upper management and dangerous work conditions are what workers at Montreal’s Amazon warehouse continue to face. 

Amazon worker Manuel Tapial is spearheading the campaign, he has been the Coordinator of Montreal's Amazon Workers' Union (MAWU) dating back to the start of the movement earlier this year. The motivation came after observing the treatment his colleagues received when requesting paid sick leave and for their unfair dismissal. 

Not only is Tapial the first person to begin organizing at the Montreal warehouse, but he was also the first to gain scrutiny and intimidation from Amazon for his activism. 

Intimidation tactics have also taken the form of advertising and in messages. “Do I have to sign a union card?” “It is your fundamental right not to sign or to say “no thank you,” or “I am not interested,” reads a recent mass text message sent to Montreal Amazon workers. Posters have also begun to pop up around the Amazon location dissuading people from participating in union activities. It is common to hear management threaten the loss of benefits and spread other misinformation about unions. An added layer of intimidation can be found in the fact that the majority of Montreal Amazon workers are immigrants who rely on the job for a stable income, making Amazon’s threats even more impactful. 

Amazon is still fairly new in Canada, with the opening of the Montreal warehouse two years ago in July of 2020. Complaints from organizers include that Amazon has been functioning under the laws of the United States, and not of Quebec. While Amazon is not shy about interfering with the union, their efforts directly break Quebec’s Labour Code which explicitly states that it is illegal for an employer to interfere with one’s decision to join a union. 

Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) has been working closely with MAWU to help with unionisation efforts and to hold Amazon legally accountable for their attempts at disrupting the union.