It’s Time for New York to Take On Amazon
Amazon has long evaded unionization of its last-mile delivery drivers by subcontracting them to third-party companies. Legislation introduced by socialist New York City Council member Tiffany Cabán could put an end to that.
Amazon has created a system in which thousands of independent companies are contracted for last-mile package deliveries. Many work only for Amazon, yet their workers are not Amazon employees. (Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On a rainy day in August of this year, 105 Amazon delivery drivers employed by Cornucopia Logistics, one of the 4,400 delivery service partners (DSPs) with which the e-commerce company contracts, were told that they had worked their final shift. As Cornucopia Logistics representatives explained this to the workers as they returned from their routes, Amazon had decided to cancel its contract with the company.
Drivers at the DSP, one of eight contractors operating out of DBK4, an Amazon facility in Maspeth, Queens, unionized with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) a year earlier. In response to Amazon’s failure to voluntarily recognize their union, they went on a multiday strike beginning on December 14, the height of the company’s busy holiday season.
“I believe because of the strike we had last year, that was part of it,” Lamont Hopewell, one of the fired drivers, said at a September rally for the fired drivers as explanation for the firings. “We’re coming into peak season right now, and I believe they wanted to stop any momentum we had.”
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.