‘Boycott Amazon’ protest outside Laval warehouse after mass layoffs

A protest against the mass layoffs of thousands of people is underway at the Amazon warehouse in Laval Wednesday morning.

Protesters are showing their support for the more than 4,600 Quebecers who will be out of work after Amazon announced it was closing seven warehouses in the province.

“We will not take this lying down — as Quebec workers, as Amazon workers,” says Félix Trudeau, president, Amazon Laval-CSN Workers’ Union.

A campaign called ‘Here, We boycott Amazon’ was also there in solidarity.

“We want to show workers, Amazon workers, that the population of Montreal, workers in Quebec, support their cause — that we’re all together in this fight,” said Trudeau.

Quebec’s Labour Ministry told CityNews Tuesday 4,624 people have been laid off – roughly 1,700 regular employees, 300 temporary seasonal workers, and the rest were employed by smaller carriers subcontracted by the company.

That number is expected to grow slightly as the Ministry waits for numbers from one more delivery company.

“We’re human, we’re not just simple objects,” said Corali Ocampo, a unionized Amazon worker.

Ocampo says her job will be terminated on Saturday.

“If we let an outside company do something like this, then we can’t imagine what other companies would do,” said Ocampo.

The demonstration was taking place outside Amazon’s Laval DXT4 warehouse, where workers obtained union certification in May – becoming the first of the e-commerce giant’s Canadian warehouses to unionize.

Amazon has never said the decision to close Quebec’s warehouses was linked to the Laval unionization effort – saying instead it was about increasing efficiency.

In a statement to CityNews Wednesday, Barbara Agrait, an Amazon spokesperson said: “We respect people’s right to peacefully protest. […] The decision to revert back to a third-party delivery model in Quebec supported by local small businesses, similar to what we had until 2020, will allow us to provide the same great service and even more savings to our customers over the long run.

In making this decision, we’ve complied and will continue to comply with all applicable federal and provincial laws.”

But the union representing workers there – the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) – vehemently believes unionization was the core reason behind Amazon’s decision.

“In Quebec, the right to be unionized is a right that is protected,” says Dominique Daigneault, president, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain-CSN.

The CSN says legal action against Amazon is on the way.

“Everyone is angry about Amazon,” Daigneault said.

Wednesday’s protest was part of a larger movement of unrest directed at Amazon.

A Léger–Le Journal–TVA survey released Tuesday found 54 per cent of respondents plan to boycott Amazon or make fewer purchases there.

Celeste Trianon is one of those people.

“I used to buy things like printer toner, lots of business supplies through Amazon, it is the cheapest place in many ways for some of these goods,” Trianon said. “But it remains that I cannot support a company which is firing 4,500 workers. It’s something that’s completely unacceptable for a company to do.”

The CSN is urging the federal, provincial and municipal governments to stop buying from Amazon and cancel all contracts with the company and its subsidiaries. It’s also asking Quebecers to boycott Amazon by not using its online shopping platform, and by cancelling Amazon Prime subscriptions.

“We have to stand up, make ourselves respected and start a movement to get justice,” said Trudeau.

An anti-Amazon demonstration is planned for Montreal on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. – beginning at the Mont-Royal metro.