Amazon opens Hamilton warehouse, announces 3 more in Ontario
CBC
Amazon opened a new robotics centre in Hamilton on Tuesday and announced plans to open three more Ontario facilities in 2023.
The company said it will have:
All four centres are set to create 4,500 "safe" jobs, according to Amazon, with at least 1,500 at the Hamilton plant.
"The building we are in today is the most technologically advanced fulfilment centre of Amazon in Canada " said Vibhore Arora, Amazon Canada's regional director of customer fulfilment.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Donna Skelly, Conservative MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook, praised the new centre.
Skelly said as many as 4,000 people may work at the warehouse during peak times and the jobs may offer people extra flexibility.
When the new centre was first announced in 2020, there were some concerns from Anthony Marco, president of the Hamilton and District Labour Council.
Marco said he still feels cautiously optimistic.
"It's great that there are jobs coming into the city ... but when we talk about jobs in the labour movement, we also talk about decent work," he said on Tuesday.
"We want jobs that pay at least a living wage, hopefully include benefits, hopefully include pensions, and those are some of the things we look for."
Marco pointed to labour movements at Amazon warehouses in the U.S.
The Staten Island facility in New York City voted to unionize despite reports that managers worked to prevent staff from organizing.
Amazon workers in Alberta are working to unionize, according to Stacy Tulp, organizer for Teamster Local 362. He said they're trying to meet the requirements to hold a vote on whether to form a union.
"It's important to give people a voice in the work place. Their working conditions are, I can say, deplorable. Their wages are below living rates," Tulp said.
Premier Danielle Smith will attend the second inauguration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in January, her office has confirmed.
Multiple major B.C. Ferries sailings have been cancelled for Christmas Day due to an incoming storm.
As Dr. Hai Nguyen entered the operating room last week, he couldn't shake the feeling of performing in front of an audience.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham has a prediction: some day, a Manitoba premier will agree to create a new funding formula for cities that includes some form of growth revenue.
Children and seniors in the community of Qu'Appelle, Sask., excitedly packaged up food hampers this holiday season.
It's Christmas on P.E.I., a time to reflect, gather with family and friends, and hopefully eat lots of delicious food after the gifts are unwrapped.
Premier Danielle Smith will attend the second inauguration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in January, her office has confirmed.
Multiple major B.C. Ferries sailings have been cancelled for Christmas Day due to an incoming storm.
Multiple major B.C. Ferries sailings have been cancelled for Christmas Day due to an incoming storm.
A 51-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man in North York earlier this month, Toronto police say.
Canada's premiers are calling on the federal government to extend the deadline for claiming charitable donations on tax returns through to the end of February.