As Amazon workers in New York prepare to form the tech giant’s first U.S. union, in Ontario the company continues a years-long fight against a union seeking to represent delivery drivers.

In 2020, The Logic launched a legal challenge against Amazon’s request to have hundreds of pages of documentary evidence in the case sealed from entering the public domain. Nine months later, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ordered Amazon to turn over most of those records. The documents, as well as interviews with seven delivery drivers, offer a rare window into the labour strategy of one of the world’s largest companies. 

They form the basis of The Logic’s investigative story. Here are some of the highlights: 

The union battle in Ontario: The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 175 sued Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services in 2018, claiming the company blocked Toronto-area drivers from unionizing and punished pro-union drivers and companies with cuts to their work volumes, which resulted in layoffs. The union wants revotes and for Amazon to be considered an employer to the drivers that power its business but for whom the tech giant takes no responsibility. Amazon denies the union’s claims. 

A category of workers who don’t work for Amazon, but definitely work for Amazon: 

The company relies on a network of contracted companies called delivery service partners (DSPs) to power its massive shipping business. In exhibits The Logic obtained, Amazon takes great pains to distinguish itself from those companies. In practice, though, it blurs the lines. It advises against recruiting drivers, but its website lists open positions for them. It directs Amazon managers not to provide drivers with “Amazon-specific” training material, but it does exactly that. It claims it’s not involved in disciplining and firing drivers, but files from the OLRB case show Amazon is intimately involved in those decisions. 

Amazon’s driver-surveillance system: Training material included as evidence in the case also shows how closely Amazon tracks drivers’ every move, mapping out some tasks to the minute.

An invisible hand: Drivers who spoke to The Logic said they rarely dealt with Amazon directly, but felt its pressure. The trove of case files chronicles several instances in which pro-union drivers were laid off in what the union believes was intended to quell union support and maintain the company’s control over its delivery workers. Louis Sokolov, a partner at the law firm Sotos, said Amazon intentionally uses DSP managers as intermediaries with which to control drivers. “Amazon is the real boss here,” he said. 

What’s next: Hearings for the Ontario union case are scheduled through the spring. They come on a wave of mounting unrest among Amazon employees and contractors, fuelled by new demands placed on them during the pandemic. Doug Finnson, vice-president of Teamsters Canada—which has launched a North America-wide drive to organize Amazon workers—said victories in the U.S. (which have garnered U.S. President Joe Biden’s support) could galvanize other labour movements percolating in facilities across the continent. While he said the precariousness of drivers’ work makes them especially hard to unionize (their 100 per cent turnover rate suggests they’d sooner quit than rally to negotiate better conditions), he’s hopeful they’ll eventually find a place in the growing labour movement inside Amazon.