Amazon Worker Solidarity joined Workers Alliance. Here’s why.

Amazon Worker Solidarity (AWS) has joined a national organization, Workers’ Alliance. Here’s why.

On April 19, 2024, after a two year long fight, 200 Amazon workers filed an application to  represent themselves as a union with Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) in Laval, Quebec. After verifying the signed union cards, Quebec’s Labour Code forced Amazon to settle a collective agreement with its employees. However, in January of this year, Amazon ceased operations in the province of Quebec completely, putting 4700 Amazon workers out of work. Despite that, Amazon still profits off of the people of Quebec – they have outsourced their business to a third party company, Intelcom, also known as Dragonfly. 

In a moment where immigrants are being blamed for stealing Canadian jobs, Amazon reveals itself as a true class enemy of Canadian workers  by outsourcing their business to undermine Canadian’s legal right to collective representation. What did our federal representatives, the same ones scapegoating immigrants, have to say about this? At a time where thousands of jobs are being lost to continue Amazon’s anti-union agenda, Canadian politicians speak up for workers only as a result of the pressure from and initiative of Amazon workers and the Alliance Ouvrière grassroots Boycott Amazon campaign.

So what now?

Amazon is notorious across the world for refusing to bargain with workers who make collective demands to improve their work conditions. Amazon put this on full display by responding to the Laval unionization campaign, worker organizing campaigns in other warehouses and progressive Quebec labour laws by punishing their entire Quebec workforce with unemployment. This is an escalation of union-busting tactics from the company that the Center for the Future of Work describes as “economic terrorism.” However, as organizers we will not react to these tactics with despair.

This is why we have joined the Workers Alliance. The Workers Alliance allows us to articulate political demands as a class. It’s an organizational form which enables us, as working class people, to fight as an independent political force. This is a basic requirement for us to raise demands for better working and living conditions across sectors, provinces, and workplaces in Canada.  This is what led the people of Quebec to support Amazon workers when Quebecois politicians did not.

We uphold the strategic principle of workers’ centrality that recognizes capitalism can only be challenged by an organized working class. Fundamental social change can only come through the solid organization of workers in defense of our class interests.  Limiting our struggles to fighting for incremental changes in different workplaces is not enough. Despite being divided by workplace, language, and status, workers need to unite as a class if we truly want to challenge the system that exploits us. 

If you follow our work you’ll see that our research, news and communications will not only follow the struggles of Amazon workers, but also broader developments across the  e-commerce, transportation and logistics industries. 

Because, Amazon, we’ll organize for worker power across the sector you get your profits from, whether it’s you or another corporation employing us.