Home قاعدة بيانات الشكاوى Oxfam and Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) vs. Amazon
Complaint

Oxfam and Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) vs. Amazon

Amazon suppressing unionization efforts in Québec warehouses

Date filed
24 November 2025
Keywords
Countries of harm
Current status
No resolution
Sector
NCP

Allegations

On November 24th 2025, Oxfam and CSN filed a specific instance against Amazon at the Canadian NCP. The complaint concerns activities of Amazon in Quebec, Canada related to its warehouses.

The complainants allege that Amazon is suppressing unionization efforts in Québec through intimidation tactics, anti-union messaging, and interference that violated workers’ rights under the OECD Guidelines. After the first Amazon union in Canada was certified, the company abruptly shut down all its Québec warehouses and terminated thousands of workers – actions the submitting parties view as retaliatory and intended to undermine collective bargaining and deter unionization.

The complainants are seeking mediation from the NCP to:

  • Reinstate the terminated workers across all seven facilities;
  • Reinstate relationships with terminated delivery service partners and their driver associates;
  • Compensation, including:
    • 1 year of salary plus 1 month of salary per year of service for each laid off worker;
    • Full compensation for loss of salary and benefits; and
    • Moral and exemplary damages.
  • Guarantee that it will respect workers’ human rights to unionize, collectively bargain, and otherwise exercise their labor rights protected Chapter IV of the OECD Guidelines in the DXT4 facility, the YUL2 facility, across Quebec, and beyond;
  • Commit to conduct HRDD in order to satisfy its human rights responsibilities towards workers as outlined in Chapter V of the Guidelines.

Relevant OECD Guidelines

Outcome

In June 2026, NCP Canada published its Final Statement on the case. The NCP found that the complainants had sufficient interest in the matter, that the issues raised in the complaint were substantiated and material to the Guidelines and that there was a clear link between the company’s activities and the issues raised. It only accepted issues relating to the company’s approach to workers’ rights and its approach to human rights due diligence for further consideration, but did not accept the aspects of the submission that seek specific remedies, including the reinstatement of workers, the reinstatement of commercial relationships and compensation, as the NCP found those “fall outside the NCP’s role as a non-judicial grievance mechanism”. It further found that as the factual circumstances underlying the complaint were under consideration in ongoing proceedings before the Québec Administrative Labour Tribunal (ALT), offering good offices on those matters could “risk duplicating or prejudicing issues under active adjudication, or placing the parties in a position where participation in the NCP process might affect, or be perceived to affect, their respective legal positions.” The NCP concluded that it could contribute to the purposes and effectiveness of the Guidelines by focusing on the company’ policies and practices in the context of the standards set out in the Guidelines, which the NCP considered distinct from the issues of legal liability and remedy before the ALT. The NCP therefore proceeded with a Final Statement with forward-looking recommendations on the company’s policies and practices relating to freedom of association, collective bargaining, non-retaliation, and human rights due diligence.

The NCP recommends Amazon to consider:

1. On freedom of association and collective bargaining:

  • “further clarifying and communicating its commitment, in the Canadian context, to respect workers’ rights to establish or join trade unions and to engage in collective bargaining with duly recognized unions;
  • ensuring that internal procedures and training for managers and supervisors support conduct aligned with expectations to promote consultation, co-operation, and constructive engagement;
  • strengthening processes that enable regular, good-faith engagement with workers and their representatives, including recognized unions, in line with expectations under the Guidelines.”

2. On non-retaliation and responsible conduct in operational decision making

  • “reinforcing safeguards to prevent retaliation against workers engaging in union or other protected labour activities;
  • incorporating processes to assess potential impacts of significant operational decisions on workers’ rights, including risks related to freedom of association and collective bargaining”

3. On human rights due diligence and remediation:“strengthening engagement with affected

  • stakeholders, including workers and their representatives, as part of ongoing due diligence processes;
  • enhancing access to grievance and remediation mechanisms, and, where relevant, providing for or co-operating in remediation;
  • improving transparency, including, where appropriate, reporting on approaches to identifying and addressing labour-related human rights risks.”

The NCP emphasised that that its final statement did not amount to a determination of whether Amazon had acted consistently with the Guidelines. The NCP stated it would follow up on its recommendations “in accordance with its usual practice”.

In a blogpost published on 22 September 2026, Oxfam America states that it respects that the Québec courts are “appropriate forums to determine legal responsibility and remedies” but that the final statement “limits opportunities for facilitated dialogue when workers are asking to be heard”. It calls on Amazon to take concrete action to implement the recommendations in practice across all of its operations beyond Canada.

More details

Defendant
Company in violation
Complainants
Affected people

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