Amazon announced it will close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec, Canada, over the next two months, eliminating approximately 1,700 full-time jobs and 250 temporary positions. The company said the decision was part of an operational review aimed at long-term cost savings, though critics allege the closures are linked to recent unionization efforts. The closures affect one fulfillment center, two sorting centers, three delivery stations, and an AMXL facility handling oversized items like TVs and furniture.
Amazon plans to shift package delivery in Quebec to local third-party companies, a model it used prior to 2020. Barbara Agrait, an Amazon spokesperson, stated that the decision was not taken lightly and promised affected employees severance packages of up to 14 weeks’ pay and job placement resources. The move has drawn sharp criticism from Canadian officials and labor leaders. François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, condemned the closures on the social media platform X, stating he had directly raised his objections with Amazon’s Canadian leadership.
Champagne expressed frustration with the abrupt decision and emphasized that such actions undermine Canadian business practices. The closures come months after 240 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Laval, a Montreal suburb, successfully unionized. This marked the first unionized Amazon facility in Canada, despite Amazon’s legal challenges to the union’s certification. In October, a provincial labor tribunal upheld the union’s right to represent workers, setting a precedent that labor advocates hailed as significant.
Caroline Senneville, president of the union representing the Laval workers, strongly criticized Amazon’s decision, calling it a retaliatory measure against unionization efforts. She described the closures as a violation of Quebec’s Labor Code and pledged to challenge the move in court. Labor expert Michael Lynk, professor emeritus of law at Western University, likened the situation to a similar case involving Walmart Canada in Quebec two decades ago.
In 2005, Walmart shut down a store in Jonquière shortly after workers unionized, citing profitability concerns. The Supreme Court of Canada later ruled that Walmart had violated provincial labor laws, a decision seen as a landmark victory for labor rights. Amazon’s reliance on non-unionized third-party delivery partners signals a strategic shift in its operations in the province, but one that has sparked significant backlash from labor advocates and government officials alike. – By MENA Newswire News Desk.