The Teamsters union has launched campaigns to organize employees in at least nine Canadian facilities run by American e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The influential union has already targeted one Amazon fulfillment centre in Edmonton, Alberta and now the Teamsters say they are aiming to unionize employees at eight other facilities across Canada as the online retailer prepares to an additional 15,000 workers to the 25,000 people it already employs across the country.
The campaigns could be seen as a bet by the Teamsters that early success unionizing employees in a more labour-friendly market such as Canada will inspire similar results south of the border, where Amazon has so far fended off unionization attempts.
In the latest challenge to Amazon's anti-unionization stance, Edmonton's Teamsters Local Union 362 filed for a vote on union representation at a company fulfilment centre in nearby Nisku later today (September 20).
The Teamsters' Edmonton unit says it has enough signed cards calling for a union to meet the 40% threshold to require a vote. Two of the union's units in Ontario and one in Alberta have confirmed they are signing membership cards with Amazon workers.
And two of the five units that confirmed they are organizing said they are running campaigns at multiple sites, bringing the total Amazon facilities involved in some level of organizing to at least nine.
Last week, Amazon said in a statement: "As a company, we don't think unions are the best answer for our employees." Amazon does not currently have any unionized facilities in North America. The company has fended off previous union drives held at its facilities in the U.S.
The Teamsters say they can help Canadian workers win better wages and benefits, such as leaves of absence.
