Quebec labour tribunal awards $30,000 in damages to Amazon warehouse union

Article content

Online retail multinational Amazon has been ordered to pay a total of $30,000 in damages to the union representing employees at its Lachine distribution centre after a Quebec labour tribunal ruled the company obstructed unionizing efforts at the site in May 2023.

In a 16-page ruling issued on Wednesday, the tribunal found that by posting “anti-unionization” messages at various venues inside the centre, Amazon had violated Articles 3 and 12 of the Quebec Labour Code, which guarantee the right of every employee to “belong to the association of employees of his choice, and to participate in the formation, activities and management of such association,” and also forbids employers or their agents to “dominate, hinder or finance the formation or the activities of any association of employees, or to participate therein.”

Article content

The ruling comes after the CSN-affiliated union filed a complaint with the tribunal in June 2023 against Amazon, alleging the company had interfered and obstructed the unionizing effort and resorted to threats and intimidation to keep employees from signing union cards.

The tribunal said it found no evidence that Amazon had engaged in threats. However, it did rule that given the tone and content of its messages questioning the usefulness of a union, messages that were posted in venues throughout the distribution centre, the company had strayed from the parameters that allow it to legally discuss the benefits of unionizing.

Amazon was ordered to pay the union $10,000 in moral damages and $20,000 in punitive damages. It was also ordered to pull down all of the messages it posted concerning unionization that had formed the basis of the complaint filed by the union.

The company was also ordered to post the tribunal’s decision in all break rooms at the distribution centre, as well as transmit via email the decision in French and in English to its distribution centre employees.

Share this article in your social network