Amazon to close 7 warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec and cut 1,700 jobs

Online retailer Amazon announced Wednesday the closure of its seven warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec in the next two months.

The e-commerce giant said the move would provide “even more savings for our customers in the long term.” However, a Canadian union which successfully unionized one warehouse accused the company of closing its locations to repel unionizing efforts in the region.

The closures will eliminate about 1,700 permanent, full-time jobs in the greater Montreal area, Amazon said. The warehouses also employ 250 temporary workers.

Amazon said it would use local services, third party companies to deliver packages, returning to a business model it used in Quebec before 2020.

“This decision was not made lightly, and we are offering impacted employees a package that includes up to 14 weeks of pay after the facility closes and transitional benefits, such as job placement resources,” the Gate said -Amazon spokesperson, Barbara Agrait, in a press release.

Agrait said the decision was made following a “recent review” of the company’s operations in the province. The closed sites include a distribution center, two sorting centers, three delivery stations and a facility that Amazon dubs AMXL because it facilitates the shipping of large goods such as televisions and furniture.

Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, wrote on the social media platform objections.

“I expressed our dismay and frustration after hearing on the news that they intended to lay off 1,700 employees and close their seven warehouses in Quebec,” Champagne said. “This is not how business is done in Canada. »

About 240 Amazon workers at a company warehouse in Laval, a suburb of Montreal, unionized in May, becoming the tech company’s first Canadian warehouse to do so. Amazon challenged the union’s right to represent workers, but lost in a provincial trial. labor court in October.

Caroline Senneville, president of the union involved in organizing in Laval, said she had “no doubt” that Wednesday’s closures, which she called “a slap in the face for all workers in Quebec,” were part of an anti-union campaign.

“This is a measure contrary to the provisions of the Labor Code and which we will firmly oppose,” she said in a statement.

Michael Lynk, professor emeritus of law at Western University, said he viewed Amazon’s decision as “a labor relations ‘Groundhog Day'” for Quebec, where a similar situation is unfolding. was produced 20 years ago with Walmart Canada.

Walmart closed a store in Jonquière, Quebec, citing profitability concerns just months after workers at that store received union certification.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union decided to fight back, and in 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that Walmart had violated Quebec labor laws.