The International Brotherhood of Teamsters are backing a New York City Council bill that could deal a blow to companies used to leveraging third-party contractors for delivery.
New York City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán introduced the Delivery Protection Act last week. The bill would fundamentally limit companies’ ability to contract warehouse and delivery workers.
While there are a few exceptions, the bill would require that “all workers providing core warehouse services at last-mile facilities in the city…be directly employed by the facility operator.” As for drivers, “workers providing core delivery services on a part-time or full-time basis shall be directly employed by the facility operator.”
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That is to say that, rather than allowing companies with a major delivery footprint to hire sub-contractors to deliver parcels, those companies would need to bring the drivers on as their own employees.
The bill also stipulates that, “contracting with third parties, including staffing agencies or other subcontractors, for the performance of core delivery services or core warehouse services, is prohibited.”
Much of the early discussion around the proposal of the bill has been focused on Amazon. The company uses what it calls its Delivery Services Partner (DSP) program around the country. The program leverages third-party contractors to deliver Amazon goods.
Cabán, whose district includes parts of Northwest Queens, said the bill would be “a game-changer for workers in New York and for every city fighting to hold corporate giants accountable.”
“For too long, companies like Amazon have gotten away with terrible conditions in their last-mile facilities, while using subcontractors to dodge responsibility for unsafe delivery conditions and dangerous streets,” she said in a statement. “The Delivery Protection Act will end that charade. It forces these companies to take responsibility for the conditions their delivery services create, and treat delivery workers as the essential workers they are, not as disposable labor.”
According to a Monday blog post, Amazon said it works with 4,500 small business owners through the DSP program and noted that it will inject $1.9 billion into the DSP program this year. Beryl Tomay, vice president of transportation at Amazon, said that investment, compounded with the billions of dollars the company has previously spent, is expected to improve third-party workers’ livelihoods.
“We anticipate that Amazon’s investments over the past two years will have helped DSPs increase pay by an average of 13%, and that this year’s investment will help DSPs increase driver pay to a national average of nearly $23 per hour, depending on DSP and their location. Many DSPs are already paying above that, and our increased DSP rates will continue to support them in their efforts to recruit and retain high-performing teams, which is essential for building sustainable delivery businesses,” Tomay wrote in the blog.
The Teamsters have long taken issue with the e-tail giant’s DSP model. The program has also drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers.
Earlier this month, the union accused Amazon of illegally axing union-protected jobs after it cut ties with a New York City DSP. The union held a rally in Queens, hoping to bring attention to the job losses and accusing Amazon of cutting ties with the DSP as retaliation for its drivers joining the Teamsters union last year.
At the moment, Amazon is not mandated as a joint employer of DSPs, though pending complaints from regional directors of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could change that in some areas of the country.
The union has put forth similar gripes in other parts of the country, and has started to see unionization efforts from third-party delivery drivers in other states, like Illinois.
Randy Korgan, director of the Teamsters Amazon Division, said the union supports the newly pending bill.
“The Teamsters will not allow Amazon to hide behind a smoke-and-mirrors subcontracting scheme to exploit workers and engage in illegal union-busting,” Korgan said in a statement. “The Delivery Protection Act is the blueprint for fighting back against Amazon’s greed and obstruction. Thank you, Councilmember Cabán, for showing the rest of the country how we can deliver for Amazon workers.”
Amazon is reviewing the specifics of the bill.
Lamont Hopewell, a driver that delivers on behalf of Amazon’s DBK4 facility in Queens, said the bill would have a positive impact on his and other workers’ livelihoods.
“I wear an Amazon uniform, drive an Amazon truck and deliver Amazon packages. But Amazon wants to profit off my labor without having the responsibilities any other employer has,” Hopewell said in a statement. “The Delivery Protection Act will stop Amazon’s abusive business practices and make our communities safer. The New York City Council needs to pass this important legislation.”
