Streetsblog NYC: New Bill Would Force Amazon to Directly Hire its Delivery Drivers

Amazon’s workers don’t actually work for Amazon nor do they spew forth every morning from Amazon warehouses — and a Council bill seeks to change that.

Currently, Amazon-branded trucks and electric cargo bikes are actually sent out across the city by a network of Amazon subcontractors or “Delivery Service Partners.” But this way of doing business is a subterfuge, and as a result “last-mile” facilities run by Amazon subcontractors with very little oversight end up being packed into just a few neighborhoods, bringing pollution, traffic violence, and safety risks.

And Amazon, the company profiting the most, is not held accountable.

Amazon insists that its DSP delivery drivers are not Amazon employees. But they deliver Amazon packages, in Amazon trucks, wearing Amazon attire, and their work is tightly controlled by the company.

A bill to be introduced on Thursday by Council Member Tiffany Cabán (D-Astoria) would require delivery companies — like Amazon — to directly employ their drivers, ending the “Delivery Service Partners” model.

The bill will also mandate safety training, make the companies directly responsible for driver safety, and require “last-mile” delivery centers to be licensed with the city. If passed, the new rules would be enforced by the underfunded Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

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The DSPs are technically independent, but labor experts say that Amazon should be considered a joint employer due to the control the company exhibits over DSPs.

“Amazon insists that its DSP delivery drivers are not Amazon employees. But they deliver Amazon packages, in Amazon trucks, wearing Amazon attire, and their work is tightly controlled by the company,” according to a National Employment Law Project report. “Amazon determines the daily routes drivers are assigned to, the number of deliveries to be completed each day, and delivery deadlines, while communicating this information directly to drivers through an app.”

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Read the full story at nyc.streetsblog.org.