Amazon not too long ago introduced it’s closing all its operations in Quebec.This transfer will reduce about 1,950 jobs, together with 1,700 full-time employees. The corporate says it’s shifting again to a third-party supply mannequin, claiming this can save prospects cash. However labor unions and critics are asking: Is that this actually about saving cash, or is it about eliminating unionized employees?
A Sample We’ve Seen Earlier than
This isn’t the primary time Amazon’s selections have raised eyebrows. In February 2023, I wrote about Amazon shedding 18,000 employees. On the time, the corporate blamed inflation, slowing gross sales, and provide chain points. However many people questioned whether or not these layoffs had been extra about automation and avoiding unions. What’s occurring in Quebec now appears like historical past repeating itself.
One of many websites closing is the DXT4 warehouse in Laval, Amazon’s first unionized warehouse in Canada. Employees there joined the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) in Might 2024 and had been negotiating their first contract when the closure was introduced. The CSN says Amazon’s resolution targets unionized employees and violates the Quebec Labour Code.
Amazon denies any in poor health intentions and accuses the CSN of spreading false info.
It’s value noting that the CSN aren’t alone in questioning about this- as simply final August, a Quebec labor tribunal dominated in opposition to Amazon for interfering in union efforts at one other web site in Lachine.
Automation and Job Loss
Automation appears to play a giant position in Amazon’s selections. Whereas the corporate hasn’t mentioned the Quebec closures are about robots, it’s value noting that Amazon has been constructing extra robotic warehouses the place machines do the work folks used to do.
There’s additionally the problem of unionization. Unionized employees sometimes earn round 10% extra and obtain extra complete advantages than their non-unionized counterparts. They’re additionally extra more likely to have higher entry to employer-sponsored well being plans and paid sick days. For an organization targeted on minimizing prices, unionized employees could characterize a monetary problem Amazon would fairly keep away from.
By closing its solely unionized warehouse in Canada, Amazon could also be signaling a choice for non-unionized labor, the place wages and advantages can stay decrease. This sample raises questions on whether or not cost-cutting selections are being made underneath the guise of automation or operational effectivity whereas successfully undermining employees’ rights.
Are They Being Sincere?
Amazon says the swap to third-party supply in Quebec is an operational resolution. However the timing—proper after unionization and through labor negotiations—feels off. Quebec’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Business, François-Philippe Champagne, got here out criticizing the transfer, saying, “This isn’t the best way enterprise is completed in Canada.”
This isn’t nearly Quebec or Canada for that matter. This development is a component of a bigger story about how firms like Amazon are specializing in reducing prices and automating jobs, typically on the expense of their employees. This story additionally highlights how exhausting it’s for unions to guard employees in industries shifting towards automation and AI.
Can We Discover a Higher Method?
In my 2023 article, I wrote, “For those who’re going to interchange employees with robots as a result of it’s cheaper and simpler than coping with unions, simply be trustworthy about it.” That also rings true. Individuals recognize transparency, and with out it, firms danger dropping the belief of their workers and prospects.
Amazon may take a special strategy. It’s not not possible to put money into each expertise and honest therapy for employees. As a substitute of seeing unions because the enemy, firms may work with them to search out options that work for everybody.
“Right now’s employees want ongoing, incremental re-skilling or upskilling to take care of a steady or enhancing profession path. Displaced employees want substantive retraining to get their subsequent job or profession. Younger folks getting into the workforce want a basis of abilities aligned with their aptitudes and the prevailing demand for human labor.” – Yossi Sheffi
Mark Twain as soon as mentioned, “For those who inform the reality, you don’t have to recollect something.” Amazon’s actions in Quebec level in the direction of an absence of transparency and honesty. Maybe these closures don’t have anything to do with unions, however till they’re keen to be totally upfront on their reasoning, folks will proceed to ask robust questions about their motives.
It doesn’t assist that Amazon has a lengthy historical past of questionable enterprise practices and has been the topic of a number of lawsuits; together with antitrust, class motion, and lawsuits over product recall. Firms like Amazon want to appreciate that innovation and equity can go hand in hand, and it’s time they begin proving it.
An avid ebook reader and proud library card holder, Angela is new to the world of e-Readers. She has a background in training, emergency response, health, likes to be in nature, touring and exploring. With an honours science diploma in anthropology, Angela additionally studied writing after commencement. She has contributed work to The London Free Press, The Gazette, The Londoner, Greatest Model Media, Lifeliner, and Citymedia.ca.
