Amazon 'contract drivers" are employees per labor board

[Thelunatick]

(Labor board confirms Amazon drivers are employees, in finding hailed by union | Ars Technica)

Amazon may be forced to meet some unionized delivery drivers at the bargaining table after a regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) director determined Thursday that Amazon is a joint employer of contractors hired to ensure the e-commerce giant delivers its packages when promised.

This seems like a potentially big loss for Amazon, which had long argued that delivery service partners (DSPs) exclusively employed the delivery drivers, not Amazon. By rejecting its employer status, Amazon had previously argued that it had no duty to bargain with driver unions and no responsibility for alleged union busting, The Washington Post reported.

But now, after a yearlong investigation, the NLRB has issued what Amazon delivery drivers’ union has claimed was “a groundbreaking decision that sets the stage for Amazon delivery drivers across the country to organize with the Teamsters.”

In a press release reviewed by Ars, the NLRB regional director confirmed that as a joint employer, Amazon had “unlawfully failed and refused to bargain with the union” after terminating their DSP’s contract and terminating “all unionized employees.” The NLRB found that rather than bargaining with the union, Amazon “delayed start times by grounding vans and not preparing packages for loading,” withheld information from the union, and “made unlawful threats.” Teamsters said those threats included “job loss” and “intimidating employees with security guards.”

Sean M. O’Brien, the Teamsters general president, claimed the win for drivers unionizing not just in California but for nearly 280,000 drivers nationwide.

“Amazon drivers have taken their future into their own hands and won a monumental determination that makes clear Amazon has a legal obligation to bargain with its drivers over their working conditions,” O’Brien said. “This strike has paved the way for every other Amazon worker in the country to demand what they deserve and to get Amazon to the bargaining table.”

Unless a settlement is reached, the NLRB will soon “issue a complaint against Amazon and prosecute the corporate giant at a trial” after finding that “Amazon engaged in a long list of egregious unfair labor practices at its Palmdale facility,” Teamsters said.

Apparently downplaying the NLRB determination, Amazon is claiming that the Teamsters are trying to “misrepresent what is happening here.” Seemingly Amazon is taking issue with the union claiming that an NLRB determination on the merits of their case is a major win when the NLRB has yet to issue a final ruling.

According to the NLRB’s press release, “a merit determination is not a ‘Board decision/ruling’—it is the first step in the NLRB’s General Counsel litigating the allegations after investigating an unfair labor practice charge.”

Amazon’s spokesperson, Eileen Hards, told Ars that the NLRB office confirmed to Amazon that it will be “dismissing most of the Teamsters’ more significant claims it filed last year in Palmdale.” That apparently includes dismissing the Teamsters’ claims that Amazon unlawfully terminated its contract with one of their DSPs and that Amazon had a legal obligation to honor the Teamsters’ contract with that DSP.

Next, the NLRB will determine if the “remaining allegations should be decided by an administrative law judge,” Hards said. After that, Amazon will have opportunities to appeal any unfavorable rulings, first to the Board and then to a federal appeals court, the NLRB confirmed to Ars.

Hards confirmed that Amazon still expects all the Teamsters’ remaining claims will be dismissed.

“As we have said all along, there is no merit to the Teamsters’ claims,” Hards told Ars. “If and when the agency decides it wants to litigate the remaining allegations, we expect they will be dismissed as well.”

But Hards declined to comment on the impacts of the NLRB’s determination that Amazon is a joint employer of the unionized delivery drivers.

One Amazon driver in Palmdale, Jessie Moreno, said that worker conditions for Amazon drivers could improve because of the determination.

“Amazon can no longer dodge responsibility for our low wages and dangerous working conditions, and it cannot continue to get away with committing unfair labor practices,” Moreno said. “We are Amazon workers, and we are holding Amazon accountable.”

Amazon drivers uniting “like never before”

The NLRB determination came following a complaint from 84 Amazon workers from Palmdale, California, who became the first Amazon delivery drivers to unionize in April 2023, represented by Teamsters Local 396.

While their DSP recognized the union, workers launched an unfair labor strike in June 2023 after Amazon allegedly “engaged in dozens of unfair labor practices in violation of federal labor law in an effort to quash workers’ organizing efforts,” the Teamsters said.

The picket line quickly expanded “to over 50 Amazon warehouses across 10 states,” the Teamsters said. Most recently, drivers in Skokie, Illinois, “launched their own unfair labor practice strike in June 2024,” right around the same time that “more than 5,500 members of the Amazon Labor Union in New York voted by an overwhelming 98.3 percent to affiliate with the Teamsters.”

In their blog, the Teamsters said that Amazon “has avoided responsibility for its drivers through its DSP subcontractor business model” since 2018, but drivers hope that yesterday’s NLRB determination could put an end to the dodgy tactic.

“The NLRB’s joint employer determination shatters that myth” that “DSP drivers are not official employees of Amazon” and “makes clear that through its DSP business model, Amazon exercises widespread control over drivers’ labor and working conditions, making Amazon the drivers’ employer,” the Teamsters said.

The Teamsters said that they are “confident” that “the NLRB’s regional determination for the Palmdale workers will extend to Amazon DSP drivers who unionize nationwide.” One union member and Amazon driver, Brandi Diaz, celebrated what she considered to be the US government recognizing that the DSP program is a “sham.”

“We wear Amazon uniforms, we drive Amazon vans, and Amazon controls every minute of our day,” Diaz said. “Amazon can no longer have all the benefits of their own fleet of drivers without the responsibilities that come with it. The time has come for Amazon drivers across the country to organize with the Teamsters and demand what we deserve.”

Drivers are currently fighting to increase wages and improve driver safety amid what they claim are unchecked dangerous conditions they must navigate as Amazon drivers. Moreno said that the NLRB determination was a significant step toward unionizing more drivers and ending Amazon’s allegedly unfair labor practices nationwide.

“We have been on strike to stop Amazon’s lawbreaking and we are winning at the NLRB, while we are uniting Amazon workers across the country like never before,” Moreno said.

[lake]

The NLRB is one of the government organizations making decisions and judgements of the law which are dramatically different from past precedents.

It takes time for these different interpretations of law to percolate through the legal system.

This will take long enough so that the results of the election will be known, and depending on who wins, it might not have to await the legal process to be resolved.

[papy]

@Thelunatick

The NLRB found that rather than bargaining with the union, Amazon “delayed start times by grounding vans and not preparing packages for loading,”

Hmm, maybe this explains some of the weird FBA delays?

Make it make sense (FBA delivery to Buyer)

If they ever actually left a NY Amazon warehouse, they’d be at my local USPS in two days max. These items are still sitting on Amazon shelves, a week later. They are on zero trucks, Amazon, USPS, anything. They are collecting dust.

[Chimanimani]

Amazon’s delivery system depends on third-party companies. But labor regulators have challenged that model, possibly opening the way for unionization.

By Danielle Kaye
Oct. 10, 2024Updated 4:00 p.m. ET

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.
Labor Organizing and Union Drives
• Boeing: Thousands of Boeing workers went on strike after rejecting a contract that their union negotiated, a potentially costly disruption to the aerospace giant as it tries to recover from a series of safety crises.
• Port Workers: A contract covering longshore workers on the East and Gulf Coasts will expire at the end of September, but talks have been stalled over the use of automation, raising the likelihood of a strike.
• Hotel Workers: About 10,000 hotel workers across the United States walked off the job on Labor Day weekend in an attempt to disrupt holiday travel after failing to come to an agreement in contract negotiations.

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 according to N.L.R.B. findings, the Teamsters and many drivers, 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.
Image

Johnathon Ervin, owner of Battle-Tested Strategies, said Amazon’s cancellation of a contract with his company was retaliation for union organizing, an assertion the company denied.Credit…Kyle Grillot for The New York Times
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 l
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.”

[VTR]

It would be interesting if they treated hired drivers like they do relay drivers and lease the trucks to them for a day, and then make drivers bid on the route. Don’t want to do it, don’t bid on it. If you don’t want route 2319, bid it for $900 and make Amazon pay it if it sucks that bad. That would make them more independent contractors than employees.

The problem for Amazon is when they cannot find anyone to do their garbage routes with hundreds of stops, or they have given all the ones who will do it, bad metrics, for taking a leak after the first 100 deliveries. They nickel and dime their own labor pool to death.

[Default_Username]

[ASV_Vites]

The majority of our Amazon deliveries are delivered out of a beat up shabang with a husband and wife team swimming in packages inside their dirty, disgusting car. Often there is a small child in the car too BTW.

Amazon is all class, through and through.

[VTR]

Perhaps in your uncivilized East Coast communities, but here on the West Coast, we get nice rivian vans powered by rainbows and unicorn farts spreading joy to everyone that gazes upon them. The drivers of our vans have upscale urine bottle holders and backup beepers that say “pay just enough attention as to not be run over… thank you”

[ASV_Vites]

@VTR

we get nice rivian vans powered by rainbows and unicorn farts

We have those too from time to time. And yea, the back up beeper might as well not exist. IDK what that sound is supposed to be. Must use a lot of electricity to be louder.

[VTR]

Ya we have the ubiquitous Amazon truck that looks like the Fex Ex box trucks and it’s backup beeper sounds like a duck being murdered by the klaxon on a destroyer as heard through a broken set of tin cans on a string.

I wondered if they sound that way as an effort to save money on what they would normally sound like after they are repeatedly backed into, that way nobody would ever write them up as broken or damaged when they are.

[lake]

We in NH have many of the Rivian Vans Delivering. But there are still some deliveries which are being made by unmarked vehicles with unmarked drivers.

We have two tiers of delivery each day, based on either order size or delivery fee - the pre-10AM Fedex Express style delivery and the late afternoon prime and peon delivery. With a third delivery some days.

There is a contractor between Amazon and the drivers, so they are employees of a private contractor, not private contractors - a similar arrangement to FEDEX Ground.

The previous NLRB attempts at forcing companies to treat their contractor’s employees have not been tested by the courts yet. It is unlijkely these rules will be in effect before the election, so it is one of those cases that you can show your support for this initiative by voting for the party which is likely to support it, or kill it.