Nov 5, 2026
Amazon workers across the Greater Toronto Area are launching a campaign to unionize with Unifor, calling for better wages, safer working conditions and more say in how their jobs are managed.
The organizing drive involves workers at facilities in Scarborough, Bolton and Ajax. It follows a landmark victory at Amazon’s YVR2 fulfilment centre in Delta, B.C., where workers became the first at an Amazon facility in Canada to secure union certification in July 2025, after a ruling by the B.C. Labour Relations Board.
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“They’re making hundreds of billions in profit, and they’re paying us poverty wages”, Jack Cobb, an Amazon worker at the Scarborough facility, told CityNews.
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“People can’t afford gas, groceries, rent, they can’t afford to have a dignified life. This company could make us all have a great job and they choose not to.”
Amazon and Unifor clash over organizing campaign
In an email statement sent to Money.ca, Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson accused Unifor of trying to impose itself on employees to collect union dues.
“Unfortunately, much of what Unifor is claiming is simply untrue. This appears to be another example of Unifor trying to force themselves upon our employees in order to fund their organization through union dues,” Stephenson said.
Justin Gniposky, Unifor’s Director of Organizing, called that “a classic rebuttal.” In an interview with Money.ca, he said the campaign was being driven by workers who had been organizing for years, rather than by the union.
“These guys live by putting people in fear. That’s the biggest thing their workers have to overcome,” Gniposky said.
“This is a worker-led initiative that we are supporting. It is not Unifor-led. This is workers who have been organizing for years, and Amazon knows them.”
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What Amazon workers want from the union campaign
Higher pay is one key demand. Cobb told TorontoToday that he earns $27.60 an hour after working at Amazon since 2020. Starting pay at the Scarborough facility is approximately $24 an hour, he said, while workers are seeking $30.
But Gniposky said wages are only part of the issue. Workers want their pay to keep pace with the cost of living, but are also concerned about the physical demands of their jobs and the way management exercises control over working conditions.
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Gniposky described Amazon warehouses as operating under what he called a “bully system,” where “health and safety is viewed as a hindrance.”
He said workers want meaningful health and safety committees that can address problems, rather than having safety treated as secondary to productivity. He also alleges that employees who fall out of favour with management can be assigned less desirable jobs or given breaks at inconvenient times.
Gniposky told Money.ca that injured workers in Ontario are being pushed onto WSIB benefits and back into retraining, rather than being supported in returning to their jobs.
Amazon defends its wages and workplace safety record
In its email statement to Money.ca, Amazon said it values direct relationships between employees and managers.
“We think there’s a lot of value in having a direct relationship between our teams and their managers, which means every person’s voice is heard, not just a few, and that when someone spots a way to improve their job, we can act on it quickly,” Stephenson said.
Amazon also defended its approach to workplace safety and productivity. The company said its global Recordable Incident Rate had improved 43% over the past six years, while its Lost Time Incident Rate had improved 70% over the same period. It said it invested hundreds of millions of dollars this year in safety innovation, training and other programs.
The company also said employees can take informal breaks during shifts to use the restroom, get water or speak with a manager or human resources. If a manager is found to be prioritizing productivity over safety, Amazon said it investigates and takes appropriate action.
Amazon also pointed to its 2026 pay increases. The company said it invested more than $78 million in pay increases for Canadian operations employees, raising average hourly base pay by 4% to $26.27.
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Gniposky disputed the company’s account of its safety record, saying Amazon monitors its own figures and that workers’ experiences tell a different story.
Data reviewed by TorontoToday from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board showed that lost-time injury claims at Amazon warehouse facilities in Ontario increased from approximately 1.5 per 100 workers in 2020 to 3.5 per 100 workers in 2025.
Amazon’s B.C. union dispute remains unresolved
Amazon has also challenged Unifor’s account of its success at the Delta facility. In its email statement to Money.ca, Stephenson said two employee votes in B.C. had been cast and sealed without being counted, adding that “there hasn’t been a single vote counted in favour of Unifor representing Amazon employees in Canada.”
Gniposky said that account leaves out the circumstances behind the certification.
“The problem is what they leave out,” he told Money.ca. He said the B.C. Labour Relations Board had found Amazon had broken the law multiple times, and that the remedial certification followed the company’s interference in the organizing process.
Amazon said it has appealed the B.C. Labour Relations Board’s ruling ordering binding arbitration with Unifor, while participating in the process as its appeal proceeds.
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The dispute has also delayed the first collective agreement, according to Gniposky. He said Amazon had repeatedly challenged Labour Board decisions and had failed to put forward bargaining proposals.
“They stalled bargaining, and they refused to table any proposals,” he told Money.ca.
Gniposky said Amazon’s position that it was bargaining in good faith did not reflect what happened at the negotiating table.
“They have a facade that they bargain in good faith. They don’t. That’s why we have binding arbitration. That’s what the Labour Board found,” he said.
The Delta workers secured certification in July 2025, but the parties have yet to reach a first collective agreement. The Labour Board has directed the dispute toward binding arbitration.
The GTA campaign is at a much earlier stage. Gniposky said the public launch represents the culmination of years of organizing by Amazon workers across the GTA, many of whom have been working toward union representation long before the campaign became public. He described the announcement as “a huge step” toward formalizing their efforts and pursuing union certification.
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Steven Brennan is a freelance finance writer based in Vancouver, BC. He holds a BA and an MA from Maynooth University, Ireland. His work regularly appears at Canadian Mortgage Trends, Lowest Rates, Loans Canada and other Canadian and U.S. brands.
