RISE UP FOR AMAZON WORKERS

from Teamsters Canada - Annual Report 2022

RISE UP FOR YOUNG WORKERS

by Doug Finnson, National Representative

Amazon Project

The solution is to organize.

The rise of Amazon as one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world has brought a host of challenges for its workers. Despite being one of the most profitable companies on the planet, Amazon has been rightly criticized for its harsh treatment of workers, who are regularly subjected to grueling conditions for low pay and few benefits.

The solution is to organize. Teamsters Canada has been working with Amazon employees to empower them to unionize. We have been advocating for better working conditions, including improved pay and benefits, and improved safety on the job.

Every year, Amazon earn tens of billions of dollars in net profits. But hourly wages for the company’s warehouse workers remain stuck at just below $20. Meanwhile, hourly wages for Teamster members in other large, unionized warehouse can progress up to between $25 and $35. That’s on top of benefits and other perks.

The comparatively lower wages are particularly egregious given Amazon’s notoriously intense and demanding work environment, which can put a significant strain on employees' physical and mental health.

Members of Local Union 362 organizing in Alberta

According to the Strategic Organizing Centre in the United States, the company had an overall injury rate of 7.7 per 100 warehouse workers in 2021, which is much higher than the 4.0 per 100 workers rate for non-Amazon employers. And while Amazon employed 33% of all U.S. warehouse workers in 2021, the company was responsible for 49% of all injuries in the industry.

And to add insult to injury, Amazon workers have little protection against layoffs and terminations, which often occur when exhausted workers fail to hit arbitrarily high production quotas.

It’s not right to treat people this way.

Supporting Amazon Workers

We are pro-worker, not anti-Amazon. We stand in solidarity with all warehouse and delivery workers who are not getting a fair shake in the workplace.

That is why, since 2021, we have been hitting the pavement, meeting with thousands of Amazon workers across the country, to talk about how unionization can improve things for the better. That work continued throughout 2022.

It’s difficult to achieve meaningful change individually, but we can do a lot if we stand together in union. Teamster members have a voice in the workplace and the ability to bargain a better deal with employers like Amazon. That voice can also be used to advocate for policies and procedures to improve safety on the job.

Given their hard work and their employer’s incredible wealth, Amazon workers deserve to be able to come home safe and healthy to their families, and to be able to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, Amazon does not think highly of Canadian workers’ right to unionize. We have seen the company conduct intimidating one-on-one meetings to convince workers not to sign Teamster membership cards. They have put up anti-union posters in the workplace and sent anti-union messages to cellphones. Their union-busting machine is well oiled, and we believe they will stop at nothing to undermine workers’ labour rights.

Despite these efforts, Amazon workers' determination remains strong. A union is the only way to bring change to Amazon, and Amazon employees understand that they have the power to achieve progress through unionizing and through the Teamsters.

Amazon workers in countries around the world have formed unions. If it’s been done elsewhere, it can be done in Canada.

Despite Amazon's resistance to unionization, the Teamsters and Amazon workers won’t stop efforts to improve working conditions and secure workers' rights through union representation.