Internal Documents Reveal Amazon Used AI Tool to Assess Unionization Risk at Warehouses
Internal documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show Amazon deployed an AI tool called Atlas across more than 50 warehouses in the U.S., Canada, and Europe to assign labour risk scores and evaluate the likelihood of unionization. In British Columbia, where Unifor is negotiating a first collective agreement after certifying workers at the Delta warehouse in July 2025, the facility recorded the highest volume of high-severity employee relations events.
Internal documents obtained by The Globe and Mail reveal that Amazon used an artificial-intelligence tool called Atlas to assess the likelihood of workers unionizing at its facilities. The system assigned a "labour risk" score to each warehouse and was deployed across more than 50 sites in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Atlas uses hundreds of data points to build a labour risk framework designed to evaluate emerging workforce issues, labour union targets, and internal or external labour threats. The model classifies sites on a five-point scale ranging from 1, indicating "workplace disruption reported," to 5, meaning "no risk." A secondary scoring system ranges from 100 to 900 to indicate the likelihood of workers voting in favour of unionizing.
In British Columbia, the documents highlight activity at two Vancouver-area warehouses. The Delta warehouse, known as YVR2, was categorized as a Tier 1 site with a labour-risk score of 169. YVR2 and another facility, YVR3, recorded the highest volumes of what Amazon defines as "high severity employee relations events"—a category that includes active union card signings, worker protests, and walkouts or work stoppages. YVR2 logged 52 such events, while YVR3 recorded 47.
Unifor, the union representing workers at the Delta warehouse, was certified by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board in July 2025. The certification has led to a heated labour dispute over a first collective agreement. Unifor organizing director Justin Gniposky estimates the internal documents date back to late 2024 or early 2025, noting they refer to "active card signing" at YVR2 that occurred almost three years prior to the document's reference context. Gniposky characterized the system as proof that Amazon views unionization as a business threat.
The documents also provided guidance to managers on recognizing union formation attempts and discouraging unionization while respecting local labour laws, including advice to stick to routines rather than spying.
Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson stated that the information gathered helps the company identify trends and prioritize them for continuous improvement. Stephenson asserted that actions taken on feedback are determined by human teams, not AI. He did not confirm whether Atlas is currently in use or how specific data points are collected.