Prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) have determined that Amazon is a joint employer of the third-party drivers it contacts with for package deliveries in California rather than a subcontractor, as the ecommerce giant has maintained. Regulators also agreed that Amazon engaged in unfair labor practices in its dealings with workers at its Delivery Service Partner (DSP) in Palmdale, Calif. by refusing to recognize the drivers’ decision to unionize with the Teamsters.
The findings were shared in a statement Thursday by an NLRB regional director in Los Angeles after a year-long investigation following a complaint from the Teamsters Union, multiple sources report. While many of the Teamsters’ complaints were recognized, the NLRB did dismiss several of the charges, including the allegation that Amazon’s decision to terminate its contract with the unionized DSP was a retaliatory move.
Amazon launched its DSP program in 2018 and quickly became one of country’s largest delivery providers as a result. However, because the DSP program is based on a subcontractor model, wherein Amazon contracts with third-party companies for its delivery services, the retailer has long maintained that these drivers are not official Amazon employees. The NLRB joint-employer determination contests that premise, although it currently only applies to this one group of unionized workers in California. There are nearly 280,000 Amazon DSP drivers across the U.S.
The Palmdale workers became the first group of Amazon delivery drivers in the country to organize a union, in April 2023, joining the Teamsters’ Local 396. They then negotiated and ratified a contract with the Amazon DSP Battle-Tested Strategies, but Amazon maintained at the time that it did not have to recognize or negotiate with the Teamsters since it did not directly employ the workers. The workers then went on strike to protest what they said were unfair labor practices on the part of Amazon, including low pay and dangerous working conditions, and they have been on strike since June 24, 2023.
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“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,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in a statement. “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.”
“We wear Amazon uniforms, we drive Amazon vans and Amazon controls every minute of our day,” said Brandi Diaz, an Amazon driver and Local 396 member in a statement. “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.”
If a settlement is not reached between the Teamsters and Amazon, the NLRB can bring a formal complaint against Amazon, which would then go to court within the NLRB’s administrative law system.
“As we have said all along, there is no merit to the Teamsters’ claims,” Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a statement to the Associated Press. “If and when the agency decides it wants to litigate the remaining allegations, we expect they will be dismissed as well.”
