An attendee holds a Support Amazon Teamsters sign during a rally with workers and union members as part of an “Amazon Teamsters Day of Solidarity” in support of the unionization and collective bargaining of Amazon delivery drivers at the Teamsters Local 848 on August 29, 2024 in Long Beach, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
Hundreds of Amazon delivery drivers at one of the company’s New York facilities joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union announced Monday, marking the latest escalation of organizing efforts in its logistics network.
The drivers work for three contracted delivery firms out of an Amazon facility known as DBK4, located in New York’s Queens neighborhood. A majority of drivers at each of the contracted firms signed authorization cards to join the Teamsters, the union said in a release. On Monday morning, they approached Amazon asking the company to recognize the union and begin negotiations.
Drivers at the facility have called for consistent schedules, properly maintained delivery trucks and reasonable workloads, the union said. The workers are part of Amazon’s network of third-party delivery companies, which ferry packages from its warehouses to shoppers’ doorsteps.
Amazon has in the past year faced swelling labor pressure among its ranks of delivery workers, including walkouts, calls for higher wages and safety improvements. Last week, Amazon announced it was hiking wages for contracted delivery workers as part of a $2.1 billion investment into the program.
The National Labor Relations Board has also been examining Amazon’s delivery service partner program. Since August, the federal labor agency has issued two determinations finding that Amazon should be deemed a “joint employer” of employees at two subcontracted delivery companies. The NLRB’s determination could compel Amazon to bargain with employees seeking to unionize.
“The NLRB made clear that Amazon has a legal obligation to bargain with its drivers and meet them at the negotiating table to improve wages, working conditions, safety standards, and everything in between,” Sean O’Brien, general president of the Teamsters, said in a statement.
The Teamsters and other big labor unions have long had their sights set on organizing warehouse and delivery workers at Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the U.S. Last April, drivers at an Amazon facility in Palmdale, California, voted to join the union. The Teamsters also launched a division aimed at funding and directing organizing resources to Amazon employees.
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