Amazon contract drivers join Teamsters Union in New York
Hundreds of Amazon.com Inc. contract-delivery drivers at a warehouse in New York City are organizing with the Teamsters, demanding that the retail giant bargain with them over wages and working conditions.
Employees with three Amazon delivery contractors at a facility in the borough of Queens on Monday asked the company to recognize their union and start contract talks, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement. A majority of the drivers at each contractor have signed cards authorizing the union to bargain on their behalf, the Teamsters said.
Amazon delivers the bulk of its packages using a network of bespoke contract firms, which it calls delivery service partners. These independent businesses operate out of Amazon warehouses, lease Amazon-branded vans and follow the company’s direction for package routing and some personnel considerations.
Spokespeople for the Teamsters didn’t name the DSPs, which operate out of Amazon’s DBK4 warehouse. The workers are seeking consistent schedules, properly maintained vehicles and reasonable workloads, the union said.
The organizing drive is an escalation of the Teamsters’ effort to unionize workers at Amazon, the second largest private US employer behind Walmart Inc. The strategy hinges in part on getting federal labor officials to agree with the contention that Amazon is, along with its contractors, effectively an employer of its delivery drivers.
National Labor Relations Board officials have argued that Amazon was a co-employer of contract drivers at warehouses in California and Georgia, who made claims against the company.
Amazon said last week that it would spend an additional $2.1 billion on its contract delivery program, including boosting worker wages.
The Teamsters union has for years been public about ambitions to organize Amazon workers. The Amazon Labor Union, the previously independent outfit that won an election to represent thousands of warehouse workers in Staten Island, earlier this year affiliated with the Teamsters.
Amazon has unsuccessfully challenged the results of the election in NLRB proceedings, arguing misconduct by the union and labor board itself. Earlier this month, Amazon sued the NLRB in federal court, arguing it violated constitutional provisions on separation of powers by serving as prosecutor and judge in workplace issues.