Amazon says it is raising the average hourly base wage in Canada to $26.27, up by $1/hr from last year.
In an emailed statement, the company says the bump represents a four per cent year-over-year increase and is an investment of more than $78 million. The increase takes effect on Sept. 27 for the company’s full-time operations employees across Canada.
The company also notes that the new wage will mean full-time employees working 40 hours a week would earn more than $54,000 per year on average.
Amazon added that eligible employees in Canada, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and corporate, will receive 10 per cent off online grocery and daily essentials purchases on Amazon.ca, with no cap on savings.
The company noted eligible employees receive planned pay increases every six months until their 24-month anniversary, with another increase at month 36.
Speaking of eligibility and pay increases…
Pay raises and run-ins with the labour board
According to BNN Bloomberg, the union representing workers at Amazon’s Metro Vancouver warehouse says the company’s announcement happened alongside the end of a mediation process ordered by the B.C. Labour Relations Board.
BNN Bloomberg also noted that a statement from Unifor said the company was “feeling the heat” of the contract soon to be awarded to workers at the facility.
For context, the B.C. Labour Relations Board found in February that the online retail giant violated the province’s labour code by giving workers at most of its facilities their scheduled pay increases while leaving out unionized warehouse employees in Delta, B.C.
With this in mind, the labour board ruled last month in favour of binding arbitration to settle the dispute between the company and unionized workers at its Delta warehouse, although the retailer opposed the process. The company also rejected the mediator’s recommendation for arbitration and said it wanted to continue direct negotiations with Unifor.
In a similar vein, Amazon faced criticism last year when it shuttered operations in Quebec after employees formed a union.
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