Amazon Workers in Canada Win First Binding Union Contract in North America
An arbitrator imposed the first binding union contract for Amazon workers in North America, covering 800 warehouse staff in Delta, British Columbia.
An independent arbitrator set the terms of a binding collective agreement on Nov. 13, 2026 covering 800 workers at Amazon's (AMZN) YVR2 fulfilment centre in Delta, British Columbia. Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, said it is the first union contract for Amazon workers anywhere in North America.
The three-year agreement runs until Nov. 13, 2029 and includes wage increases bringing hourly rates to $29 by the end of the term, enhanced severance protections of up to 18 weeks and an additional week of vacation for workers with 10 years of service. Other gains include a Women's Advocate, a grocery benefit for the duration of the contract, statutory holiday scheduling based on seniority and protections ensuring employee benefits remain equivalent to or better than existing coverage.
The B.C. Labour Relations Board certified Unifor Local 114 as the workers' union in July 2025 after finding Amazon hired extra staff to frustrate the organizing drive and ran what the board called a lengthy and pervasive anti-union campaign. On Aug. 4, 2026, the board ordered binding arbitration, finding Amazon's conduct had affected the parties' ability to reach an agreement.
Unifor National President Lana Payne said Amazon told everyone a union contract would never happen, but workers proved them wrong, standing up to one of the most powerful companies on earth and winning rights in writing that Amazon cannot take away.
The deal shows regulators and unions converting pressure into defined rules rather than open-ended friction, which can give clearer lines around warehouse wages and protections. The risk for Amazon is that each successful organizing effort could set a reference point for workers elsewhere, including in the United States, pulling more of its fulfilment network into formal bargaining. Walmart and Target have kept unions at the edges of their U.S. operations, so an Amazon network with more formalized labor could carry structurally different fixed costs.
Amazon shares were down 0.3% in delayed trading.
The next checkpoint is whether workers at other Amazon sites in Metro Vancouver organize, as Unifor has said it intends to support.