Why a unionized warehouse in Quebec posed a threat to Amazon [Video]

Last May, about 230 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Laval, Que., successfully unionized — a historic first in Canada at the retail giant.

The CSN, the union that represents the workers in Laval, said workers were dissatisfied with what they described as a hectic work pace, low wages and inadequate health and safety measures.

Amazon has only one other unionized workforce in North America, in Staten Island, N.Y. It was certified in 2022 but still doesn’t have a contract.

In Quebec, the province’s stronger labour laws would have soon forced the two parties to negotiate a collective agreement or could have imposed arbitration on them if they didn’t reach a deal, experts said.

“I think essentially what’s happening here is that the clock was ticking down on a first collective agreement,” said Adam King, an assistant professor in the labour studies program at the University of Manitoba.

“Amazon had tried to contest the certification of this bargaining unit …