I think there's been some long standing divisions in the labor movement here around like, what is best. And when you look at the pudora campaign that i mentioned earlier, and that was backed by the canadian union of pustl workers, initially that was just focused on one gig employer, fudora am. But it's been really interesting to watch the campaign more from a focus on fudora to becoming gig workers united,. which is representing a sector, really, of workers, rather than just one workplace. I guess wouldt need a change in labor law to do something like that.
Paris Marx is joined by Sara Mojtehedzadeh to discuss the Teamsters’ organizing at Amazon warehouses in Canada and the working conditions that workers face at those facilities.
Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a labour reporter at the Toronto Star and the host of Hustled, a podcast about Foodora workers’ fight for a union. Follow Sara on Twitter at @SaraMojtehedz.
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Also mentioned in this episode:
- If you’ve ever assigned an episode of the podcast in a college or university course, let me know by Twitter DM, email, or through this form.
- In June, the Teamsters voted to put resources behind unionizing Amazon.
- The Teamsters Canada applied for a union vote in Edmonton, Alberta, and said it’s organizing at nine warehouses. Amazon is hiring 15,000 workers and raising wages.
- During the pandemic, the Canadian government signed a deal with Amazon to deliver PPE. The contract fell apart.
- After an Amazon worker died in Indiana, the governor intervened to overturn the citations.
- California is regulating productivity quotas at warehouses.
- Discussions are picking up about sectoral bargaining in Canada.
- Sara wrote about the high injury rates at Amazon’s Canadian warehouses and the temporary closure of its Brampton, Ontario warehouse after a Covid outbreak.
- Find out more about Teamsters Canada’s Amazon campaign and the Warehouse Workers Centre.
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