Murray Wood: What happened to basic manners?
At the risk of sounding old fashioned, Murray Wood is questioning the manners of some of the people he meets. He says pe...
The regional director of a union representing workers at the Amazon facility in Delta, B.C., says leaders are scheduled to meet its members for the first time on the company’s property.
Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle says six, hour-long meetings will be held over three days this week to allow the union to inform workers about next steps in bargaining for their first collective agreement.
He says the union also plans to file another unfair labor practice complaint against Amazon for “continued violations of the labour code,” though he did not specify the allegations in an interview.
British Columbia’s Labour Relations Board awarded union certification to workers at the facility in July, saying Amazon had been ramping up hiring “in order to thwart the union’s certification application.”
In August, the board rejected a bid by Amazon to overturn that decision, saying evidence presented by Unifor showed “a deliberate decision by the employer” to increase its employee roster to dilute union support during the membership drive.
The company had applied for the board to reconsider its original July decision, arguing that evidence showed “there was an operational need for additional staff,” but the panel disagreed.
An Amazon spokeswoman said at the time that the company planned to appeal the decision again.
McGarrigle says the company recently filed that appeal to the B.C. Supreme Court.
“I haven’t heard anything from the court since, but our lawyers are ready to defend that as well,” he says.
He explained that next steps for the union include electing a bargaining committee and talking to members to ensure it “captures all their concerns” on its proposal for a first contract.
McGarrigle says the union will also be serving the employer with a notice to bargain and then set bargaining dates.
“Our organizing campaign has momentum, and we hope to be filing more applications to certify Amazon warehouses in the very near future,” he says.
“There’s strong interest from Amazon workers here in B.C. and all across the country, and so really we need Amazon to follow the law and stand back and let employees make their own free choices without their interference, and that’s what today’s meetings are about, and that’s what our ongoing campaign is about.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.
Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
