Quebec union group urges Amazon boycott after warehouse closure announcement

MONTREAL — A Quebec labour group is urging governments and the public to boycott Amazon because the online retail giant announced the closure of its seven warehouses in the province a few months after workers at one of the facilities voted to unionize.

CSN president Caroline Senneville describes Amazon’s January decision to close the warehouses as an anti-union move.

“It has always been clear that Amazon’s decision to close up all their shops, warehouses and businesses here in Quebec is only for one purpose: to stop the unionization effect, and to avoid signing what would have been the first collective agreement for Amazon in North America,” she told a news conference in Montreal on Tuesday.

The Confédération des syndicats nationaux says the closures, which come after workers at an Amazon warehouse in a Montreal suburb unionized in May, will eliminate 4,500 jobs with the online retailer and its subcontractors. The Laval, Que., warehouse was the first Amazon facility in Canada to unionize.

Amazon has dismissed the suggestion that the closures are linked to a unionization push in the province and has said they are aimed at delivering efficient and cost-effective services to customers. The closure of the Quebec facilities will mean Amazon will revert to a business model it used in the province up until 2020, which employed local, third-party companies for package deliveries.

The union confederation is asking all levels of government, as well as public and semi-public agencies, to stop buying from Amazon and to cancel all contracts with the company and its subsidiaries. Senneville also urged members of the public to join the boycott, and to buy from Quebec or Canadian companies instead.

“A few million (dollars) less in business for Amazon may not be a ton,” she said. “But a few million more on the numbers sheet of Quebec businesses can make the difference between a Quebec company that survives and a Quebec company that thrives.”

The CSN’s push comes as consumers across Canada are considering turning away from American products amid the threat of across-the-board tariffs posed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs were expected to come into effect Tuesday but have now been delayed for at least 30 days.

The CSN is also asking its 1,600 affiliated unions to investigate whether their employers have contracts with Amazon and pressure them to stop doing business with the company. The labour group says it also plans to take legal action again Amazon, arguing the company’s move violates articles of the provincial Labour Code dealing with obstruction of union activities. However, it acknowledged that the process could be lengthy.

Senneville said the union hopes to eventually get compensation for the workers affected by the closures.

The labour group says it’s also organizing a protest against Amazon’s actions on Feb. 15 in Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2025.

Lia Lévesque, The Canadian Press