Amazon Warehouse Workers' Union Drive Hit by Decertification Bid

A potential historic collective agreement between Amazon and unionized warehouse workers in Vancouver is facing a setback due to an internal campaign by some employees to decertify their union representative, Unifor.

The YVR2 fulfillment centre in Delta, B.C., which employs around 800 people, has been at the forefront of this push for unionization. The workers have been in hostile negotiations with Amazon over the terms of a first contract for more than a year.

However, some employees have relaunched an internal campaign to decertify Unifor as their official union representative, claiming that Unifor reps fought every effort to allow employees to determine whether they wanted union representation. The group is asking the B.C. Labour Relations Board to make public the results of a secret ballot vote on decertification before a first collective agreement becomes official.

This development has led Amazon to ask the labour board to pause bargaining until the decertification issue is resolved, citing concerns that it may be a union-busting tactic. Unifor, however, believes Amazon is employing a delay tactic to deter a first collective agreement from coming to fruition.