Canadian Labor Department strongly criticizes Amazon.com

Contents

“This is an abuse of labour board procedures,” the labour board of the Canadian Pacific Province of British Columbia criticized the online retailer Amazon.com in a recent decision (2025 BCLRB 155). The company had “intentionally undermined” labor law protections for its employees at a warehouse in the Vancouver area. Amazon artificially inflated the list of employees to prevent the union from collecting enough signatures to hold a vote on unionization.

To qualify for union representation, 45 percent of a facility's employees must sign letters of intent, which are then submitted by the union to the British Columbia Labour Relations Board. If the authority determines that there is sufficient support, a vote is held in the company in which more than half must vote in favor of the union.

According to the authority, Amazon.com tried to raise the 45 percent threshold for the union by suddenly hiring employees who were not actually needed. This was “unprecedented, fraudulent, and unnecessary,” the responsible vice chairman stated in July (2025 BCLRB 131).

Campaign against the union

In addition, management ran a “long and pervasive anti-union campaign” to pressure employees after learning of union organizing efforts. This included more manager presence, more supervision of work, one-on-one meetings with employees, anti-union messages on posters, table displays, screens, and other common daily communication channels; daily meetings and individual phone calls; and suddenly less harsh working conditions and other incentives.

This is exactly the kind of interference that the law (BC Labor Code) prohibits employers from engaging in. The penalty imposed: the colleagues at the warehouse will henceforth be represented by the Unifor union; the ballots from a vote that has already taken place will not be counted. According to the supervisory authority, a free vote is not possible in the given environment.

Appeal

Amazon has lodged an appeal against this. The appeal decision by a three-judge panel not only rejects the appeal but also criticizes the company even more harshly than the first instance. Although trade unions often accuse employers of artificially inflating their staff lists, they rarely succeed in proving this. In this case, it was successful.

The argument that the anti-union campaign was covered by the right to free speech was rejected by the three-judge panel: as soon as the union had officially opened the proceedings, the employer had to remain neutral. However, Amazon had only then started the anti-union campaign in the first place.

The decision published on Tuesday recognizes a “direct attack” on the free choice of employees to organize themselves. Amazon had abused the labor law procedures. The fact that Amazon has appealed despite everything and thus created additional work for the authority is not going down well there.

Reactions

“We have clearly demonstrated to the Labor Board that Amazon will stop at nothing to undermine the democratic rights of working people,” reacted trade unionist Gavin McGarrigle. “Amazon now has no choice but to follow the law and enter into serious negotiations with workers at (warehouse) YVR2 to improve working conditions.”

heise online has invited Amazon to comment. At the beginning of the year, an Amazon site in the Canadian province of Quebec organized itself into a union. As a result, the company announced that it would close all Amazon warehouses in Quebec.

Unifor CEO Lana Payne sees the decision as having a signal effect beyond the individual case: “This is a message to all employers in British Columbia: don't interfere in the unionization process or face the consequences.” In general, colleagues at all Amazon facilities deserve to be protected by a union.

• First instance decision Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services, ULC and Unifor, Local 114
• Appeal decision Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services, ULC and Unifor, Local 114

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