Toronto-area Amazon workers launch organizing drive with Unifor ahead of Black Friday

Amazon workers from facilities across the Greater Toronto Area launched a new organizing initiative with Unifor on November 4, ahead of Black Friday and the busy holiday shopping season, standing together for safer jobs, fairer pay and respect at work. According to event coverage, the launch took place in Scarborough, where workers gathered under the name United Canadian Amazon Workers.

The union's case: safety, pay and dignity

Unifor National President Lana Payne said at the launch that Amazon workers want and deserve better working conditions, safer jobs, fairer pay, dignity and respect, and that the fight is about workers coming together to challenge one of the world's biggest and most profitable corporations. Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi said injury rates on the job are alarming and too many workers are afraid to speak up for fear of punishment, adding that workers have a legal right to organize and that the decision belongs to them.

The union's numbers: record profit, a $1 raise

In its news release, Unifor said Amazon reported operating income of US$28.1 billion in the third quarter of 2026, with an operating margin of almost 14%, the highest in the company's history, while many Amazon associates received a wage increase of only $1 per hour in 2026. The union also cited data from Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board showing Amazon's injury rate in 2025 was more than double the 2020 rate, with the number of injury claims per year nearly tripling.

Why Ontario matters: more than half of Amazon's Canadian workforce

Unifor said Ontario is home to more than half of Amazon's Canadian workforce and a majority of its fulfilment centres in Canada, making the Greater Toronto Area drive pivotal. The union said the drive builds on organizing in British Columbia, where workers at the YVR2 warehouse in Delta have organized with Unifor and are on the cusp of being awarded the first collective agreement at Amazon in North America. Greater Toronto Area Amazon workers who want to get involved can visit warehouseworkersunite.ca/amazonchapter.

(Sources: Unifor news release, November 4, 2026; launch event coverage. The profit, raise and injury figures above are as cited by the union and are attributed as such. Cover photo is a file photo of an Amazon warehouse workplace.)