Delta BC Amazon warehouse workers win union certification

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The B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) has ruled in favor of Canada's largest private sector union Unifor, granting union certification to employees at the Amazon facility in Delta, B.C. This decision came after concluding that Amazon's attempts to obstruct an organizing drive at its Delta warehouse were so unfair that the union deserved automatic certification, making it Canada's only unionized Amazon warehouse.

Since June 2023, the union has been attempting to organize the 700-worker distribution center, facing significant resistance from the corporation.

Unifor was optimistic about having nearly enough support to succeed in 2024. However, the union claims the company hired a large number of seasonal workers to weaken pro-union support.

It also accused Amazon of conducting an anti-union campaign involving managerial intimidation and overwhelming employees with anti-union messages, including phone calls to their homes.

“Workers at Amazon organized against very difficult odds, but they’ve slayed the giant,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “This ruling sends a clear message to companies that bullying workers will only backfire in the end.”

In what was was an historic victory for Canadian workers, an Amazon warehouse in Laval, Que., successfully unionized in May, 2024.

However, the stridently anti-union corporate giant announced it was closing all seven of its facilities in Quebec earlier this year, laying off 1,700 permanent employees and outsourcing its work to third-party companies. The move was widely seen as an effort to prevent the further unionization of its facilities in the province.