{"id":898466,"date":"2026-09-16T23:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898466\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T23:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:16:15","slug":"amazon-raises-warehouse-wages-by-1-an-hour-across-canada-amid-union-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898466\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon raises warehouse wages by $1 an hour across Canada amid union dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A Canadian flag flies outside Amazon’s YVR2 fulfillment centre, in Delta, B.C., in 2025.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Amazon AMZN-Q<\/a> is raising hourly wages for thousands of Canadian warehouse workers by $1, amid a labour dispute with a Vancouver union pushing for a historic first collective agreement.<\/p>\n

The tech behemoth announced Wednesday that it would boost the average hourly base wage for \u201coperations employees\u201d in Canada from $25.27 an hour to $26.27 an hour, effectively a 4-per-cent year-over-year increase in pay. <\/p>\n

Amazon is also giving all its employees, including corporate staff, 10 per cent off online grocery purchases on Amazon.ca<\/a> starting Oct. 1. In a statement, the company said that the pay increase and grocery discount builds on an existing workplace benefits package, which includes health, vision and dental benefits. <\/p>\n

Group of B.C. Amazon workers tries to decertify union on verge of securing historic agreement<\/a><\/p>\n

The company periodically boosts wages and benefits for warehouse employees, usually ahead of Prime Days in the fall and the holiday season. <\/p>\n

Amazon has for years been trying to fend off unionization attempts by workers in multiple jurisdictions across the U.S. and Canada. Poor workplace conditions have been the impetus for union drives, but while Amazon workers in New York and Vancouver have successfully formed unions, no union has managed to secure an official collective agreement. <\/p>\n

Unifor, one of the largest private-sector unions in Canada, unionized warehouse workers in Vancouver last July. It said in a statement on Wednesday that Amazon\u2019s wage increase coincides closely with the B.C. labour relations board\u2019s decision last month to force both sides into binding arbitration for a first contract. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time Amazon recognizes that if they want to operate in Canada, they will do it while respecting the rights of the very workers they employ. We\u2019re going to keep the pressure on to see workers across Canada benefit from the gains made through collective bargaining,\u201d Unifor national president Lana Payne said. <\/p>\n

According to a 2025 report from Amazon, the company employs 46,000 people in Canada, including 8,000 corporate employees. It has 70 operations and logistics sites across the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, our associates across Canada go the extra mile to prepare packages for customer deliveries, and we\u2019re grateful for their dedication,\u201d said Jasmin Begagic, director of Amazon Logistics Canada. <\/p>\n

The Seattle tech giant has faced scrutiny over its track record on worker safety and working conditions. In 2023, Amazon was one of 21 employers penalized by Ontario\u2019s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for workers\u2019 compensation violations. Specifically, the company failed to file an injury claim involving a worker at one of its Brampton, Ont., fulfillment centres. <\/p>\n

Amazon refused to provide wage proposals to B.C. union, resulting in bargaining impasse, mediator says<\/a><\/p>\n

In October, 2025, Unifor began discussions with Amazon about terms of a collective agreement for the 800 Vancouver warehouse workers, but the process has been fraught with complications. The union alleged that Amazon had \u201cslow walked\u201d the negotiating process by not tabling essential wage proposals in a timely manner<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Then in June, 2026, a mediator appointed by the BC Labour Relations Board sided with the union, saying in a report that the tech giant\u2019s approach to bargaining was effectively \u201cunreasonable\u201d and hindered the process of agreeing to a new collective agreement. <\/p>\n

Last month, the provincial labour board ordered binding arbitration to force Amazon into agreeing to terms of a first contract. The company has since appealed that decision. <\/p>\n

Amazon workers at YVR2, the unionized warehouse in the Vancouver area, get paid between $18 and $25 per hour, according to Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor\u2019s western regional director. Mr. McGarrigle said that the union proposed wage increases of 4 per cent in 2026, 3.5 per cent in 2027 and 3.5 per cent in 2028 in the first collective agreement, but that Amazon countered with wage increases of 2.5 per cent, 2 per cent and 0 per cent. <\/p>\n

The core issue of contention between both sides is the pace of work and injury rates. The union wants to establish clear rules for workload and productivity, but Amazon told the labour board\u2019s mediator in June that it would not negotiate on how hard and fast workers are required to work. <\/p>\n

In Wednesday\u2019s statement, Amazon said that the pay boost will bring the annual salary for full-time warehouse workers, working 40 hours a week, to an average of $54,000. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A Canadian flag flies outside Amazon’s YVR2 fulfillment centre, in Delta, B.C., in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[29361,49,48,44],"class_list":["post-898466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-amzn-q","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}