Amazon cuts 1,700 jobs as it closes warehouse in | U.S. Markets

Amazon services in Quebec will close within the coming weeks and 1,700 jobs will go along with it.

The company, which is set to outsource deliveries to smaller contractors, mentioned the choice is because of price financial savings and never he current unionization of about 200 workers at a Laval, Que., warehouse.

“Following a recent review of our Quebec operations,” the spokesperson mentioned in an emailed assertion to Radio Canada, “we found that returning to a third-party delivery model supported by local small businesses, similar to the one we had until 2020, will enable us to offer the same excellent service and deliver even greater savings to our customers in the long term.”

Quebec is the one metropolis in Amazon’s Canadian workforce that has a union.

Employees final 12 months demanded a $6-pay increase after saying they have been dissatisfied with what they described as a hectic work tempo, low wages and insufficient health and security measures.

Employees on the Lachine facility have been shocked and dismayed on Wednesday morning upon listening to concerning the company’s determination to scale back.

“Nobody saw this coming,” a employee expressed. “No idea what I’m going to do. I need time to digest this.”

The company spokesperson introduced that the discount of its Quebec operations would result in the shutdown of all seven websites.

In phrases of severance, workers will obtain up to 14 weeks’ wage, in accordance with the company.

It comes following strikes in at three supply hubs in Southern California, and one every in San Francisco, New York Metropolis, Atlanta, Georgia, and Skokie, Illinois, final month.

The hanging employees are fought for greater wages, higher advantages, and safer work circumstances.

The Teamsters have tried to get Amazon to return to the negotiating desk since final 12 months, when the labor group first mentioned it had unionized a group of supply drivers in California who work for a contractor. Amazon — which denies it employs the employees — refused, main the union to file unfair labor fees towards the company on the Nationwide Labor Relations Board.

In August, prosecutors on the federal labor company labeled Amazon as a “joint employer” of subcontracted drivers.

In September, the company boosted hourly pay for the drivers amid the growing strain.

The Amazon warehouse employees who voted to unionize in 2022 even have tried to get the company to interact in contract negotiations.