Online retail giant Amazon is closing all of its warehouses in Quebec and laying off hundreds of workers.
The company says it will cease operations over the next two months in seven operation sites, one fulfillment centre, two sorting centres, three delivery stations and one AMXL (extra large) delivery station that is co-located with a sorting centre.
Barbara Agrait, a spokesperson with Amazon, denies that the decision was made following the unionization of 200 employees last spring at Amazon’s DXT4 warehouse in Laval, Que.
In total, 1,700 regular employees in Quebec and 250 temporary-seasonal workers will be laid off.
Immigrant Workers Centre's Mostafa Henaway represents some of the workers at Amazon's Quebec warehouses. He joined CJAD 800's Elias Makos to discuss the impact on employees:
Amazon employee "Fred" joined CJAD 800's Elias Makos to react to the news of the warehouse closures and describes what working conditions are like:
HEC professor and retail specialist Jacques Nantel joined CJAD 800's Elias Makos to discuss why Amazon decided to close its Quebec warehouses:
Caroline Senneville is president of the CSN union which represents workers at Amazon's Laval warehouse. She joined Montreal Now's Aaron Rand following the news that the company would be closing its Quebec warehouses:
CJAD 800 legal contributor Chris Dimakos joined Montreal Now's Aaron Rand following the news of Amazon opting to close its warehouses in Quebec. He calls into question the relevance of unions:
Political commentator James Mennie joined Montreal Now's Aaron Rand to look at how Quebec premier François Legault reacted to the news that Amazon will be pulling out of Quebec:
Senior lecturer in Economics at Concordia University, Moshe Lander joined CJAD 800's Andrew Carter to explain how Amazon will continue to operate in Quebec following the company's announcement that it will be closing its warehouses in the province:
CJAD 800 political insider Tom Mulcair joined Andrew Carter to share his thoughts on Amazon closing its Quebec warehouses:
With files from CTV News Montreal's Rachel Lau and Erika Morris