Another Win for Workers: Amazon Ordered to Binding Arbitration
Dear members,
As you may recall, bargaining for your first collective agreement with Amazon has been assisted since March 2026 with an independent mediator. Despite your elected bargaining committee’s best efforts, Amazon management refused to take steps to reach an agreement. As a result, the mediation process stalled.
The independent mediator had some harsh words about Amazon’s behavior in his final report. As a result, the B.C. Labour Relations Board has ruled that the next step will be a binding agreement imposed by an independent arbitrator.
In all likelihood, this will be the final step before achieving a collective agreement. As you know, it is always the union’s preference to negotiate with the employer in good faith and vote on a contract. That is the normal course of bargaining for 99% of unionized workers, but Amazon made that democratic process impossible.
We will likely hear back from the arbitrator this month and we will contact you again with those details.
We can’t emphasize enough that this is yet another legal setback for Amazon. Every time the company has acted improperly or in bad faith, Unifor has stood up to Amazon and fought for you. This is the core purpose of your union: fight for you when the employer tries to throw their weight around. Fairness and a level playing field can only be achieved with a union!
As always, please remain skeptical of the company’s propaganda and, when in doubt, contact us for any information or if you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly.
We can see the “light at the end of the tunnel” of these contract negotiations, and are eager to share whatever information is presented by the independent arbitrator.
In solidarity,
Mario Santos
Unifor National Representative