Vans marked with Amazon’s arrow logo have become ubiquitous on residential streets, a symbol of the nearly instantaneous delivery that has transformed online shopping.
But behind the wheel, that image of high-tech efficiency is being overshadowed by drivers’ complaints about working conditions. Recent federal labor rulings could pave the way for unionization in the company’s last-mile delivery network and change how it does business.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers who deliver Amazon packages don’t work directly for the e-commerce giant; instead, they’re employed by third-party logistics companies, called delivery service partners. Last year, Amazon ended a contract with a delivery company in Palmdale, Calif., after drivers started organizing with the Teamsters union.
A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles issued the first formal complaint last week targeting the company’s delivery model, arguing in the Palmdale case that Amazon is a joint employer of the drivers and, as such, must bargain with the union.
Last month, another N.L.R.B. regional director issued a preliminary finding that Amazon is a joint employer of drivers in Atlanta seeking to unionize with the Teamsters, and that it must be held liable for unlawfully discouraging unionization.
Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokeswoman, said there was “no merit” to the cases, adding, “We look forward to showing that as the legal process continues.”
The process is likely to be long; in the Palmdale case, a hearing before an administrative law judge is scheduled for March, and any decisions are open to appeal. And this year, a federal judge blocked an N.L.R.B. rule that would have broadened the standards for determining when a company is a joint employer.
But if the cases against Amazon prevail, they could eventually prompt a restructuring of the company’s last-mile delivery system and open the door to a wave of union organizing, labor experts said.
“When it comes to organizing, success breeds success,” said Benjamin Sachs, a labor professor at Harvard Law School.
A Question of Control
At the heart of the labor board cases is a key question: How much control does Amazon exert over those delivering packages?
The e-commerce giant argues that its role is minimal. Over 3,000 delivery service partners, or D.S.P.s, determine pay, schedules and work conditions for drivers, the company said.
But N.L.R.B. rulings, the Teamsters and many drivers say Amazon dictates nearly every aspect of the job.
Dustin Neskahi has been delivering packages for Amazon in Lenexa, Kan., for almost a year and a half, through Go Go Logistics, a service partner. With roughly 300 packages to deliver each day at more than 200 locations, he said, he sometimes has to forgo the two 15-minute breaks he is allowed.
If he fails to drop off all of the packages in his van by the end of the day, Amazon penalizes Go Go Logistics, he said.
“I just feel like I have the pressure to represent what they want from us,” Mr. Neskahi said. “I’ve got to be Amazon’s little poster boy for a delivery driver.”
Once last month, Mr. Neskahi said, he drove for more than 10 hours without a break and didn’t finish his deliveries until 9:30 p.m.
Cameras in the Amazon-branded van monitor his moves — information sent directly to Amazon, which alerts Go Go Logistics to any infractions. On that late night on the road, Mr. Neskahi had to look away from the dashboard longer than usual to identify addresses in the dark. That, he said, will probably result in a markdown on his scorecard.
The monitoring and expectations to perform come from Amazon, he said. The subcontracted company is “under a chokehold,” he added. “They are the messengers, the middlemen.”
Ms. Hards, Amazon’s spokeswoman, pushed back against the notion that Amazon penalizes third-party companies for their performance. Amazon sets safety, compliance and quality standards, she said, and provides resources to help meet them. Cameras in vans flag unsafe behavior on the road, she said, but D.S.P.s are responsible for how to respond.
Workers at Go Go Logistics have not taken steps to unionize. But Mr. Neskahi said he and a couple of fellow employees had encouraged others to join them in talking to a Teamsters representative. A union, he said, could take up issues of pay and workload with Amazon directly.
When it ended its contract with the delivery service in Palmdale after drivers started to organize, Amazon said the move was unrelated to the union campaign — but Johnathon Ervin, who owns the business, Battle-Tested Strategies, argued that it was retaliation. (Ms. Hards of Amazon said the company “does not retaliate for union organization.”)
Mr. Ervin said he had been drawn to the Amazon delivery program because of the allure of becoming an entrepreneur. He served as an Amazon ambassador at one point, talking to prospective D.S.P. owners.
“But eventually, you realize over the years that they don’t want leaders,” Mr. Ervin said. “They do not want pushback. They want compliance.”
Mr. Ervin said all the driver metrics available to him as the owner of a subcontracted delivery company came from Amazon, through the e-commerce giant’s systems. When Amazon’s system found an infraction, an Amazon manager would tell him how to counsel the driver, he said.
The N.L.R.B. regional director’s finding that Amazon is a joint employer of the Palmdale drivers “confirmed the obvious,” Mr. Ervin said. Amazon was his company’s only client, and it hasn’t operated since he lost the contract.
Most recently, drivers at eight D.S.P.s in New York City signed authorization cards to unionize with the Teamsters. Drivers at four service partners in Skokie, Ill., have also signed Teamsters union cards this year.
Emmanuel Trinidad has been delivering Amazon packages for just over one year through Cornucopia Logistics in the New York borough of Queens, where hundreds of drivers have signed union cards. On a Monday morning in early October, he tapped his badge at the entrance to Amazon’s DBK4 plant, donning an Amazon vest as a steady flow of Prime-branded vans exited the parking lot.
If he gets a few stops behind schedule, Amazon immediately tells Cornucopia to contact him, Mr. Trinidad said.
“To me, that tells you I work for Amazon as well,” he said.
Last month, Mr. Trinidad and his colleagues staged a demonstration to demand that Amazon recognize their Teamsters union and negotiate a contract. They got a raise, but Mr. Trinidad said it was not enough. His brother is represented by the Teamsters as a UPS employee in Massachusetts. Mr. Trinidad wants the same, in the hopes of securing better benefits and clear workload guidelines. Some days, he said, he has to deliver 350 packages at over 100 locations.
“We just need a more stable work environment,” he said.
A Legal Battle Ahead
The fight in Palmdale offers a peek at the challenges ahead.
For one, under U.S. labor law, the Teamsters have to organize drivers location by location at the thousands of D.S.P.s, said Susan Schurman, a labor professor at Rutgers University. The same situation has posed hurdles for union organizing at companies like Starbucks.
“That’s a massive challenge to any union, even one as big as the Teamsters,” Ms. Schurman said.
And even after drivers vote to unionize, Amazon could stretch out the bargaining process; workers at a Staten Island Amazon warehouse who voted to unionize more than two years ago still don’t have a contract.
Unions have to persuade drivers to get on board, too. While there is momentum for unionization at Amazon facilities like the one in Queens, some drivers, especially those who are new to the job, aren’t willing to throw their full support behind the Teamsters’ campaign just yet.
Dia Ortiz, two weeks into her job as a driver based at Amazon’s center in Queens, said she was earning more than she did as a manager at Old Navy. A $1.50-an-hour raise, which took effect around the time the union campaign went public, was enough to keep her from signing a union card, she said.
Despite the hurdles, the N.L.R.B.’s early findings could spur more union organizing. They have the potential to eventually force Amazon to the bargaining table as the “party that has the power to make things better,” Mr. Sachs of Harvard Law School said.
Conditions for drivers, as they stand, have pushed Malachi Allen away from the job. Mr. Allen started working for a Sacramento delivery service called ONCI in early 2023, with the allure of $23.50 an hour for solo work on the road. But the scrutiny of his moves quickly soured him on the job.
The last straw came on Aug. 19. Mr. Allen, on his 45-minute drive to deliver packages in Fairfield, Calif., took one more bathroom stop than usual: first at a truck stop by the freeway on-ramp, and then at a gas station. Usually, Mr. Allen would have urinated in a bottle to avoid falling behind on his route. But on that day, he didn’t have a bottle.
His dispatcher took note of the unplanned stop, sent him a screenshot of his location and demanded an explanation, according to text message exchanges.
Mr. Allen said he would have supported a union to push Amazon to improve conditions. But he never discussed it with his co-workers, fearing that Amazon could stop working with his company.
He decided to quit in late August.
“I got so fed up with Amazon,” Mr. Allen said. “It’s probably just best, instead of going to another D.S.P., to start something fresh.”
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