The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that on April 19, around 200 workers at the DXT4 Amazon warehouse in Laval, Que., announced their desire to form a union. Guest columnist Barry Eidlin writes that on May 10, the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal certified the DXT4 workers' union, making DXT4 the first Amazon warehouse in Canada to unionize, and only the second in North America. In keeping with its reputation as a staunchly anti-union company, Amazon challenged the tribunal's decision on the constitutionality of the entire Quebec union certification system. Amazon argued that, because the certification process did not include a secret ballot election, it violated the Charter by infringing on workers' freedom of association. Amazon, along with the likes of Uber, Airbnb and Walmart, have grown accustomed to this way of operating in the United States, spending millions on lawyers and lobbyists to rewrite laws to their liking. Other companies faced with union-organizing campaigns including SpaceX and Starbucks are also challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. labour relations framework. Now, with its challenge to the DXT4 union certification, Amazon is trying to export this business model to Canada.
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