Amazon, the CSN and the Attorney General of Quebec met before the Administrative Labor Tribunal on Friday to discuss the employer’s challenge related to the accreditation of a union at the Laval warehouse.
On the merits, the employer contests the process which consists of signing union membership cards, to form one, rather than holding a secret vote among the workers potentially concerned.
Amazon’s lawyer, Mr. Frédéric Massé, argued that the absence of a secret ballot contravened the freedom of association provided for in the charters.
In addition to this constitutional challenge, Amazon also filed a petition to revoke union certification.
In the case of the Laval warehouse, whose union was certified on May 10, Amazon maintains that there was no sufficient investigation by the labour relations officer before concluding that the union did indeed represent a majority of the workers potentially affected.
However, the parties have not yet addressed the merits of these cases. They debated, on Friday, the employer’s interest in invoking certain aspects that it wants to raise in its requests.
For example, the employer maintains that the absence of a secret vote constitutes a contravention of freedom of association, whereas this freedom of association is a right of workers to associate, and not a right of an employer.