NYC Bill Would Force Amazon to Employ Its Delivery Drivers

Thirty-one of the New York City Council's 51 members are backing a bill that would force Amazon to directly employ the drivers who deliver its packages — a direct strike at the company's contractor-based delivery model in its largest U.S. market.

The Delivery Protection Act would require companies like Amazon to hire their delivery workers and would create a licensing system holding them to new safety, training and labor standards. Mayor Zohran Mamdani supports the bill. With 31 co-sponsors, it has enough votes to pass if brought to the floor, according to Fast Company's reporting.

Luc Rene, a Bronx-based driver, illustrates the employment arrangement the bill targets. He wears Amazon-branded clothing, drives an Amazon-branded van, delivers boxes stamped with the Amazon swoosh and announces "Amazon" at customers' doors. Technically, he works for a delivery service provider, or DSP, that contracts out his labor.

What does Amazon say?

The company has lobbied heavily against the bill. Spokesperson Steve Kelly told Fast Company: "We're committed to creating good jobs and supporting our thousands of employees in New York City. We're equally committed to the local small-business partners who work with us every day to provide fast, reliable delivery for New Yorkers."

He added: "But as written, this legislation would directly undermine that commitment—threatening the small businesses that deliver to customers, putting the jobs of more than 5,000 of their employees at risk, and forcing us to consider relocating delivery operations outside of the city."

A spokesperson for the New York Delivers coalition, which represents DSPs and is bankrolled by $5 million from Amazon, said DSPs "provide flexible, good-paying jobs with strong workplace standards, opportunities for career advancement, and competitive benefits." The coalition claims the act "effectively eliminates the small businesses in the industry, and puts over 10,000 New York City jobs at risk." Amazon also paid to bus workers and DSP owners to a city council hearing earlier this year to oppose the bill.

How dangerous is the job?

A 2025 report from the New York City comptroller's office found that last-mile delivery facilities reported an average of 678 injuries per year between 2022 and 2024. Eighty-five percent were severe enough to keep workers off the job or require reassignment. Amazon's DSP program posted the highest injury rates of any operator studied.

Rene slipped and injured both knees delivering a package in 2023. Unsure whether he could access Amazon's medical services, he called his DSP, which asked only whether he could keep working. He did, taking painkillers through the pain. "If I can't show up to work due to the pain, I won't get paid," he said.

His training in 2022 consisted of a computer course; the experienced driver assigned to ride along never showed up, so Rene drove alone on day one. On 10-hour-plus shifts with no injury-prevention guidance, he stretches before and after work on his own.

Kelly pushed back: "No driver is ever required to complete a delivery if conditions aren't safe—and neither they nor their DSP is penalized for making that call. Any allegation of unsafe working conditions would be taken seriously and we investigate accordingly."

Who actually controls the drivers?

Rene says Amazon runs nearly every detail of his workday, despite the paper arrangement. Drivers haul packages — some over 40 pounds — in plastic totes; they got hand trucks only after a 2024 strike and a march on the boss. Two years ago Amazon changed van settings so air-conditioning shuts off whenever a driver exits, baking the vehicle in summer heat. Amazon sets inspection checklists, grounds vans over defects the DSP can't override, and dictates load times. In-van cameras feed to Amazon, not the DSP; hard braking or acceleration draws an infraction. Accident calls route to an Amazon representative.

Kelly denied Amazon controls workers' schedules but acknowledged it does "assign dispatch windows." He said cameras serve safety only, though multiple reports have disputed that claim.

"On paper, Amazon's not my employer, but in reality, Amazon is," Rene said. He earns $25 an hour, after a recent Amazon-implemented 25-cent raise.

What changes if the bill passes?

The act would let drivers unionize and negotiate directly with Amazon — something Rene's Teamsters membership alone hasn't delivered. His list of demands: better training, higher pay, health insurance, schedule control and a guaranteed 40-hour week.

"All those little things to make the job feel, not easy, but basically like I can show up to work today and I know I'm safe," he said. "Make it feel like I have something reliable, something people can actually live on."

If the council brings the bill to a vote, Amazon faces a choice between direct employment in New York City — with the liability and cost that implies — and making good on its threat to move delivery operations outside the five boroughs.