A growing labor dispute in Quebec turned digital infrastructure into the latest battleground this week, as activists from the Alliance Ouvrière staged a blockade at an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center in Montreal.

The protest, which temporarily blocked 20 employees from entering the facility, follows Amazon’s controversial decision to shutter its warehouse operations across the province—costing more than 4,700 workers their jobs.

The group behind the demonstration says their aim is to pressure AWS into refunding hundreds of millions in public funds granted to the company in recent years. The Alliance posted a statement on Facebook that says, “Disruption is the language of the unheard.” The group alleges that over CA$400 million in government contracts and grants—most funneled to AWS—have gone to a company they now accuse of abandoning workers.

While AWS declined to comment at the time of publication, the protest marks a broader tension brewing in Quebec, where Amazon’s closure of seven regional warehouses has sparked accusations that the move was in retaliation against growing union efforts. Amazon maintains the decision was based on operational considerations, but skepticism remains high.

Although the protest didn’t disrupt the data center’s core operations, it clearly conveyed that discontent extends beyond the warehouse floor. AWS supports thousands of public-sector organizations across Canada, including federal agencies and provincial utilities—ties that activists now argue should come with greater accountability.

With the Alliance Ouvrière vowing continued action, the clash over jobs, public funding, and digital infrastructure may only be beginning.