DELTA, B.C. - Eight hundred workers at Amazon’s YVR2 fulfilment centre in Delta are now covered by a binding collective agreement after an independent arbitrator set its terms on November 13, 2026, the first union contract for Amazon workers anywhere in North America.
The three-year agreement includes wage increases bringing hourly rates to $29 by the end of the agreement, 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 workers’ organizing drive and ran a lengthy and pervasive anti-union campaign. On August 4, 2026, the Board ordered binding arbitration, finding Amazon’s conduct had affected the parties’ ability to reach an agreement.
“Amazon told everyone a union contract would never happen, but workers proved them wrong,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “These workers stood up to one of the most powerful companies on earth and won rights in writing that Amazon cannot take away. Their courage won the day.”
Amazon disputes the process. In a statement published the same day, the company said the arbitrator imposed the agreement without a single employee vote being counted, and despite a pending effort by some employees to de-certify the union. Amazon said the agreement requires every employee in the unit to join the union and to have union dues of up to $1,064 deducted from their pay in the first year, and that it will pursue legal challenges. Amazon says the agreement runs through October 31, 2029, while Unifor says it runs until November 13, 2029. Amazon also says a decertification vote held in July 2026 was sealed without being counted, and that some YVR2 associates have filed a request for judicial review in the B.C. Supreme Court.
The outcome matters well beyond one warehouse. Delta’s YVR2 is one of the largest employers in the region, and many of its workers live in Surrey and across the Lower Mainland. Amazon operates other sites in Metro Vancouver, and Unifor says workers at those sites can speak to an organizer in confidence. Whatever the courts decide about the process, the terms now set for 800 Delta workers, including the $29 hourly rate by the end of the agreement, set a new benchmark for warehouse pay in the region.
“Amazon tried to convince workers that they were too big to organize and used their power and money to deter workers while making billions in profits. They have fought every decision and tried to rewrite reality at every step but they have failed,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s Western Regional Director. “These Amazon workers now have the binding union contract they deserve and we intend to support them and thousands more improving their lives, in BC and elsewhere.”
Unifor will hold information sessions for YVR2 members in the coming days to explain their new rights and how to use them.
Source: Unifor, November 13, 2026; Amazon statement: Amazon Canada, November 13, 2026
