Amazon delivery stations are being outfitted with robots across the country, leading to fewer workers and speedup for the workers that remain. Workers have reacted with defiance at the delivery station where I work.

Amazon fulfillment centers, where items are packaged, have been gradually automating, but until now, delivery stations were mostly operated by human labor. Now entire systems are being retrofitted or entirely removed “in the name of safety” and “for the good of employees.” But automation means workers will be laid off, shifted into new positions, or forced to transfer.

I work at the New York delivery station DBK4, in Maspeth, Queens, and it’s a window into this future. Smack in the middle of New York’s largest borough, DBK4 processes 60,000 to 100,000 packages daily, depending on the season. It employs 200 to 500 people inside the warehouse, plus up to 1,000 drivers.