Workers pushing to unionize Amazon say they faced retaliation and unfair tactics

Two men driving for companies delivering packages for Amazon in the Greater Toronto Area tried to organize unions in 2017 and 2018.

And both men — Arash and TK, who don't want their last names used for fear of reprisal — say they ran into similar tactics to stymie their efforts.

"When the company realized I had started to talk to the other drivers about having a union, they started an anti-union campaign," said Arash. "The company called an all-hands-on-deck meeting. In that meeting, the owner of the company, he said that Amazon has a problem with unions so if you decide to go unionize they're just going to cut off our company and give the work to one of the other companies." 

In several interviews with The Fifth Estate's Mark Kelley, warehouse employees and contract delivery drivers working for Amazon described demanding conditions they say got worse during the pandemic. Consumers were stuck in their homes and Amazon was perfectly positioned to benefit, so sales peaked. In 2020, company figures show that Amazon's net profit worldwide reportedly grew 84 per cent. 

When employees complained about increasingly difficult working conditions or tried to unionize, they say they faced retaliation and unfair practices by Amazon.

The delivery company "fired me and 14 other of my colleagues," said Arash.

Amazon has a reputation for being anti-union. Brad Stone, a San Francisco-based journalist and author of the Everything Store and Amazon Unbound, says Amazon founder Jeff Bezos "looked around at some of the traditional U.S. automakers and other retailers whose work forces were unionized, and he judged that they limited the company's flexibility to innovate."

Stone said his research shows that Amazon has policies in place that are designed to deter workers from staying around too long. For example, unless employees are promoted, they will no longer see any annual raises after three years.  

These are mechanisms "to kind of turn the workforce over to make sure the work force doesn't get entrenched and disgruntled," Stone said, and there is "an allergy to unionization."

TK delivered packages for Amazon in 2017 and 2018. He worked for a delivery company that was a subcontractor — or what Amazon calls a "delivery service partner," but TK said pressure from Amazon created an unreasonable workload.

He usually worked shifts of 10 to 12 hours. According to Amazon's targets, drivers would be expected to deliver around 17 packages per hour. He used a handheld GPS device from Amazon called a rabbit that tracked his package deliveries.

He said he had to keep working until he delivered all the packages, even if he finished his shift. He often worked seven to nine days straight. There wasn't much time for lunch or bathroom breaks. He said he felt overworked and underpaid. 

In early 2018, TK was fired from his job after trying to organize a union, and reinstated by an Ontario Labour Board decision that found he was wrongfully dismissed. 

When he returned to work, his Amazon badge was deactivated and he couldn't get access to the facility. For several days, he sat in his van in the parking lot for the whole shift. TK said his boss at the delivery company told him he was waiting to get the assignment for him, and came out and took photos of him once in a while.