HUNDREDS of Amazon.com contract-delivery drivers at a warehouse in New York City are organising 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 (Sep 16) asked the company to recognise their union and start contract talks, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said. A majority of the drivers at each contractor have signed cards authorising 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.
The delivery companies, which operate at Amazon’s DBK4 warehouse, are Cornucopia Logistics, DnA Logistics and Champion Logistics, a Teamsters spokesperson said, adding that the workers are seeking consistent schedules, properly maintained vehicles and reasonable workloads. Amazon, Cornucopia Logistics and Champion Logistics did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. DnA Logistics could not be reached.
The organising drive is an escalation of the Teamsters’ effort to unionise workers at Amazon, the second largest private US employer behind Walmart. The strategy hinges in part on getting federal labour officials to agree with the contention that Amazon is, along with its contractors, effectively an employer of its delivery drivers.
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) 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 US$2.1 billion on its contract delivery programme, including boosting worker wages.
The Teamsters union has for years been public about its ambitions to organise Amazon workers. The Amazon Labour 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 labour 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. BLOOMBERG
