“We work a lot and earn little”: Amazon union members in Canada are mobilizing

Around forty unionized employees of the Amazon warehouse in Laval – the multinational's only union in Canada – demonstrated Monday to denounce the “impasse” in negotiations with the online commerce giant for their new collective agreement.

Despite the freezing cold that reigned in the metropolitan region, around forty of the 250 employees at the Amazon DXT4 warehouse in Laval did not hesitate to bundle up from head to toe to put pressure on their employer .

Among them was Goni Adef, a night worker from Chad who has been employed for a year at the multinational's Laval warehouse. He came to demonstrate in order to claim [son] right. We work a lot and earn little at Amazon. It's like thishe blurted.

Workers don't ask for anything excessivefor her part lamented Hillary Kibos, another employee encountered on site. Amazon makes a lot of money.

The union in Laval became the second to establish itself in an Amazon warehouse in North America, the first having emerged in the Staten Island district of New York in 2022. Negotiations for the first collective agreement started last July.

Among the main demands, the union affiliated to the CSN calls for a starting wage of $26 an hour, rather than the $20 paid by Amazon currently. It also requires better working conditions, with union members deploring, among other things, frequent injuries and a high level of stress due to the hectic pace of their jobs.

According to the union, workers at this warehouse process around 50,000 packages per day.

Amazon se dit in good faith

The signing of a collective agreement between Amazon and the union in Laval could encourage workers in other warehouses to do the same, according to Barry Eidlin, professor of sociology at McGill University.

This single warehouse won't have much impact, but it is an anchor that can help build something biggerhe believes.

Amazon should submit its salary offers on January 16, in order to reach a collective agreement. If workers refuse to accept the multinational's next offer, the matter could be referred to arbitration.

In an email sent to -, Amazon said it was “determined to fulfill [ses] legal obligations and to be negotiated in good faith. We will continue to participate in the process in exactly the way it is envisioned, advancing discussions on topics raised by the conciliator and the unionargued the company.

With reporting from Emma Guerrero Dufour and CBC New