If you’ve been following Quebec news lately, you would have seen that Amazon recently closed down one of its warehouses after the workers unionized. This sparked outrage within the province, with many workers unions calling for a full boycott of the company.
People have since been organizing, with some taking to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction. These photos are from two different marches that took place in February.
Both marches started off with speeches, though I happened to miss the start of the first march due to other commitments.
Overall, it was quite civil. Police presence wasn’t too crazy either, though they were dedicating a lot of resources to profiling the trans contingent. Classic SPVM.
The Fires
And then the burning happened. Well, it was a controlled burn. Some protesters got together to burn an effigy of Jeff Bezos. Which is, you know, pretty on the nose.
The burns seen above happened during the first protest. I think they also burned yet another effigy of Bezos in the second protest, but I missed it covering a hockey match. Oh well…
The marching
These protests are taking place within the broader geopolitical context between Canada and the United States. Canadians have lost trust in the Trump administration, and are organizing to mitigate the effects of the current trade war. These protests against Amazon are yet another contributing factor in this growing distrust.
Canadian governments aren’t immune, however, with many criticizing the Quebec government’s lack of action against Amazon. While there have been promises to cancel contracts, union leader Félix Trudeau calls on the CAQ government to do more to protect Quebecois workers.
Organizers are hosting an event on March 15th, though I’m not entirely sure what that’s going to be about.
Conclusion
It’s fascinating watching the current state of capitalism. There are mega corporations that have been so isolated from the consequences of mistreating their workers that they feel that they can walk into any country the desire and take advantage of the people there. This can be seen across the world, in Congo, Sudan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, just to name a few. Exploitation happens everywhere, and wealth gets accumulated into the hands of very few.
Anyway, this is a photography blog so I’ll be light on the political nonsense. I do think however that as an artist and a journalist, it’s important for me to keep a pulse on what the people are feeling and what people are fighting for.
En tous cas.