Amazon on Wednesday mentioned it was closing all of its warehouse and logistics operations in Quebec, the Canadian province the place unions gained a foothold in considered one of its amenities, and would lay off 1,700 workers.
The closures symbolize a U-turn from Amazon’s latest investments within the province. The corporate opened three supply stations in 2021, and one final yr. It additionally had a small achievement heart in Quebec and two warehouses that sorted packages.
All advised, the investments totaled about 2 million sq. ft of operations, in keeping with an estimate by Marc Wulfraat, a warehousing trade guide based mostly in Montreal who has lengthy researched Amazon’s logistics community.
Amazon mentioned it’s closing the seven amenities to “present the identical nice service and much more financial savings to our prospects over the long term,” in keeping with a press release from Barbara Agrait, an organization spokeswoman. The corporate wouldn’t say if unionization was an element.
Amazon will nonetheless serve prospects in Quebec by returning to its operational mannequin from earlier than 2020, when amenities in neighboring provinces ready the packages that had been then carried by third-party supply firms into Quebec.
Amazon’s first union in Canada comprised about 230 warehouse staff in Laval, north of Montreal, after they unionized in Might. However the firm challenged the unionization effort earlier than a provincial labor tribunal. It argued that the union certification ought to be revoked as a result of the employees signed union playing cards to sign their assist, as a substitute of voting by secret poll. The tribunal dominated in opposition to Amazon in October, simply earlier than the height vacation procuring season.
Amazon mentioned litigation over the matter was persevering with.
With the Quebec closures, “they made it very clear we don’t want this spreading,” Mr. Wulfraat mentioned, referring to the union effort. The corporate has greater than 46,000 company and operations workers in Canada.
François-Philippe Champagne, the federal innovation minister, mentioned in a publish on X that he had conveyed his disappointment to the pinnacle of Amazon in Canada.
“This isn’t the best way enterprise is completed in Canada,” he mentioned.
The Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux, a union representing the employees, mentioned it was knowledgeable of the closures by way of an electronic mail from considered one of Amazon’s legal professionals early this morning. Caroline Senneville, the confederation’s president, mentioned in a press release that the corporate had been stifling their union drive because it started three years in the past, by way of actions that included what she referred to as “disguised dismissals.”
“It’s a slap within the face for all staff in Quebec,” she mentioned.
The Montreal metropolitan space has roughly 4.5 million residents, making it bigger than the better Seattle area. Pulling operations out of a serious inhabitants heart is opposite to what Amazon has touted lately as a central driver of success inside its operations: placing extra merchandise nearer to prospects, to allow quicker supply. That, Amazon has repeatedly mentioned, drives down supply prices, and causes prospects to order extra often.
Amazon has not deserted direct operations from a big inhabitants heart in North America in years, although greater than a dozen years in the past it routinely performed hardball with states that attempted to gather taxes for on-line gross sales.
Walmart and different retailers previously have had problem establishing a logistics foothold in Quebec, the place roughly two out of each 5 staff are unionized. That’s the very best charge amongst Canadian provinces, in keeping with authorities knowledge, and about 4 occasions as excessive as in the USA.
François Legault, the premier of Quebec, mentioned Amazon’s transfer was “a personal choice by a personal firm.”
“I can perceive that it have to be robust for the 1,7000 households concerned,” Mr. Legault advised reporters at a information convention on Wednesday, focusing most of his remarks on the necessity for Quebecers to mobilize and purchase native merchandise in response to President Trump’s tariff risk.
Jean Boulet, the province’s labor minister, mentioned staff affected by the warehouse shutdowns would obtain help from the federal government to search out new jobs.
