MONTRÉAL, Aug. 1, 2024
/CNW/ - In a scathing decision handed down yesterday, the
Administrative Labour Tribunal directed Amazon to stop interfering
with union affairs and ordered the company to refrain from making
any statements or publishing any messages that have the purpose or
effect of criticizing or denigrating the organizing campaign or
questioning the usefulness of a union.
The judge ordered Amazon to remove and destroy all the
anti-union posters the company has put up at its facilities. Judge
Henrik Ellefsen found that these
messages "constitute warnings to employees about sensitive issues
and are clearly likely to alarm them about the possible
consequences of joining a union."
The Tribunal also ordered Amazon to post the decision and email
it to all employees at the Lachine
warehouse, which was the subject of the complaint filed by the
Montréal Amazon Workers Union (MAWU-CSN) on June 2, 2023.
The judge further ordered Amazon to pay the union $10,000 in moral damages and $20,000 in punitive damages. The ruling stated:
"In this case, since the unlawful violation of the union's rights
was clearly intentional on Amazon's part, the Tribunal finds that
punitive damages must be ordered to impress upon Amazon that this
behaviour must cease."
Major victory
"This is an important victory for the right of all workers to
freely join a union," said CSN vice-president David Bergeron-Cyr. "Even if they work for a
giant like Amazon, Quebecers have a fundamental right to come
together to negotiate their conditions of employment. Workers must
not bow to anti-union fear-mongering: the CSN will always be there
to defend their rights."
About
The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) already
represents the nearly 250 employees at Amazon's Laval warehouse, who are seeking their first
collective agreement. Founded in 1921, the CSN represents 330,000
workers in the public and parapublic sectors in all regions of
Québec and across Canada.
SOURCE CSN - Confédération des syndicats nationaux