A Small Union Win Casts a Big Shadow Over Amazon

By any other name an Amazon driver? Last week, prosecutors for the National Labor Relations Board concluded that a group of 84 unionized Amazon drivers in Palmdale, California are, in fact, employed by Amazon.

That may not sound like an especially startling revelation, but implications are potentially huge for the world’s largest online retailer. That’s because the house Jeff Bezos built is built on a foundation of contractors.

Painful Contractions

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as an Amazon driver. Last year, when Vice referred to “Amazon drivers” in a headline, the company got in touch to set the record straight: Those weren’t Amazon drivers, they were “drivers delivering for Amazon.” Amazon’s delivery network is largely made up of delivery service providers (DSPs), small firms that contract out their drivers. These firms often work exclusively for Amazon; Amazon sets the rate of pay and the schedule for the drivers, but crucially does not actually employ any of the nearly 280,000 DSP drivers worldwide.

Amazon argues that its DSP program powers entrepreneurship, but its detractors say that it’s a convenient way for the company to exert the rights of an employer without taking on the associated responsibilities. In its most recent quarterly filing, Amazon listed the “characterization of delivery drivers” as a regulatory risk to its business. Well, now that risk is looking a little bit more real:

• The 84 California drivers have been a particularly persistent bunch — they unionized with the Teamsters in April 2023 and negotiated a contract with their DSP, but Amazon wouldn’t negotiate because it was not their employer. The drivers were later terminated, and traveled the country striking outside different Amazon warehouses.
• The Teamsters said although the NLRB’s conclusion is regional, it hopes to replicate the win elsewhere. An Amazon spokesperson told The Daily Upside that the Teamsters were over-egging their gains.

A spokesperson for the NLRB emphasized that the decision doesn’t count as a “ruling,” but rather the NLRB’s first step in litigation. “If the parties don’t settle and a complaint is issued, a hearing will be scheduled with an NLRB administrative law judge who can order make-whole remedies,” the spokesperson said. And if that judge rules in favor of the prosecutors, Amazon can take the case to federal appeals court.

Taking One for the Team: The Teamsters Union, which represents the only unionized Amazon warehouse in the US, is a growing thorn in Amazon’s side. Amazon has taken the fight to the heart of US employment law enforcement, the NLRB itself — it joined forces with SpaceX and Trader Joe’s in filing a lawsuit earlier this year to argue the NLRB is unconstitutional.