Former Amazon workers demonstrate outside employment minister’s Montreal office on Prime Day

Tuesday marks the start of Prime Day, one of Amazon’s biggest sales events of the year.

But in Montreal, workers and activists used it as an occasion to demonstrate at the doors of the Quebec employment minister’s office.

“They can’t just expect to come here, break a union, union bust, make profits, injure hundreds of workers and walk away,” said Félix Trudeau, union president for the Laval Amazon warehouse that unionized last May.

They were calling on the provincial government to create a reclassification committee to help transition the more than 4,500 warehouse workers who were laid off last winter.

“People want to work,” said Trudeau. “They want to be able to provide for themselves, for their families. They want an end to that uncertainty that comes with having no jobs.

Activists say that it’s the employment minister’s duty to create a committee that would see employers, workers, and the government join together to get Amazon to fund measures like re-training programs that would support workers in finding new jobs.

Protest organizer Mostafa Henaway says the Ministry of Employment claimed such a committee was not necessary.

“The government said Amazon provides a service through a third-party company called LHH, which is a company in the United States, does not operate in Quebec, never has operated in Quebec,” Henaway said. “So how is this company, this organization, going to help workers find new jobs?”

In a statement to CityNews, Quebec’s employment minister, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, said the province already offers career transition services.

“Amazon’s way of acting, without the slightest notice, is unacceptable,” Champagne Jourdain added. “Personalized support services have now been set up, in particular to help people find new jobs. To date, 1,435 people have participated, and those who have completed the program say they are satisfied with the help they have received. We continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that the services offered meet the needs of those affected.”

An Amazon spokesperson told CityNews they are “working a trusted human resources firm that provides reclassification services for our former employees in Quebec. The province has approved the use of LHH for this purpose … and we continue to collaborate with Services Quebec to ensure that former employees have access to all the resources made available to them by various provincial and federal entities.”

The protest comes after a campaign called “Here, we boycott Amazon” was launched last winter in response to the seven warehouse closures across the province, leading to over 4,600 layoffs consisting of regular and temporary seasonal workers.

Prior to the warehouse closures, workers at Amazon’s Laval DXT4 warehouse obtained union certification in May 2024 – becoming the first of the e-commerce giant’s Canadian warehouses to unionize.

Activists are urging potential bargain-hunting customers to boycott the e-commerce giant during Prime Day.

But some Montrealers say that Amazon’s prices during the three days of sales are too tempting to pass up.

“It’s so convenient that it’s hard not to do it, but I don’t like what they represent,” said Joan Carbery, a tourist visiting Montreal from Nova Scotia.

“I do know that Amazon has cracked down on the ‘syndicalization’ several times and I think that’s something that’s really not nice for the workers, especially here in Quebec,” said Montrealer Aljoscha Zieglenr.

“It’s because most of their return is like going back to their employment. They just pile up on cash. So I don’t like that,” added former Montrealer Olcay Matt.

Organizers say taking advantage of the tech giant’s convenience comes at the cost of workers.

“Maybe you can provide goods at a lower cost because of the scale or a size of the economy,” said Henaway. “But at the end of the day, what you’re saving has a huge cost on workers, on their families.”