Amazon says 5,000 jobs at risk, warns of warehouse relocations
The Delivery Protection Act at the center of the dispute was introduced by New York City Council member Tiffany Cabán and has broad support on the council. The bill would require warehouse operators such as Amazon to obtain city licenses by adhering to new safety, training and employment requirements and to bring couriers currently employed by smaller delivery firms onto their own payrolls. Mamdani announced his support for the legislation earlier this month.
Announcing his support, Mamdani said the bill would help protect delivery workers and ensure companies are held accountable for their business practices. Cabán said the progressive caucus is targeting “any entity that is exploiting New Yorkers and making them less safe…If you fall under that category, then yeah, there’s gonna be an arrow pointed at you,” she said.
Amazon has said the legislation would put the jobs of more than 5,000 delivery workers at risk and would land heavily on the small businesses that deliver its packages. The company has warned it would consider relocating its warehouses if the bill passes. “We’re not looking to leave New York,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. “It’s a responsibility for every council member to come and see operations firsthand as they’re considering this bill or any other version of it.”
In a separate action, Mamdani announced the collection of more than $9 million in idling fines from Amazon delivery vehicles. At the time, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa F. Garcia called Amazon “among the top worst idling offenders in the city.” The mayor also sent cease-and-desist orders to online retailers, including Amazon, that the city said were selling illegal e-bikes.
Amazon said it requires e-bikes sold in its store to meet applicable safety standards. The company also said it has worked with city officials to resolve idling fines, adding that many of them did not reach Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners — independent companies that deliver packages — because of gaps in how violations were tracked.
“We’re working to bring down the cost of things, and we’re also laser focused on increasing what workers get to keep in their pockets,” said Julie Su, New York’s deputy mayor for economic justice. “We are going to send a clear message to companies who break the law that New Yorkers deserve better.”
Delivery workers and the owners of the smaller delivery companies that contract with Amazon have taken opposing positions on the bill. José Huerta, a driver at Amazon’s DBK1 facility in Queens and a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said he makes $23.75 an hour delivering between 250 and 290 packages a day, four days a week. Huerta supports the bill, in part, because he said drivers would have more leverage to seek better benefits if they were more directly tied to Amazon.
Owners of the smaller delivery companies said the bill threatens their businesses. “It takes the ability for small businesses, small mom-and-pop businesses to operate away,” said Kris Basmagy, the owner and founder of DashWave Delivery. “It gives the keys basically to the large corporations in the city to basically employ everybody.”
Amazon has contributed around $5 million to the Five Borough Jobs Campaign, an organization fighting the legislation, according to public records. Helping to lead the charge is Jessica Schumer, who has worked for Amazon for years and is the daughter of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Amazon said she does not work on federal policy.
A study by AKRF, funded by the Five Borough Jobs Campaign, found that if the Delivery Protection Act passes, prices could go up by $664 a year per household. Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, said the bill would increase Amazon’s costs. “Their last-mile delivery model is based on third-party subcontractors, and that’s how they’ve been able to deliver things cheaply within New York City,” he said.
The Delivery Protection Act is not the first dispute between Amazon and progressive politicians in New York. In 2019, Amazon abandoned its $2.5 billion plan to build a New York City headquarters after political opposition to subsidies it was set to receive. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a critic of the project, cheered Amazon’s announcement in a social-media post: “Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world,” she wrote, referencing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo was among those who called Amazon’s retreat a loss for the city, saying “A small group of politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community.”
Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said progressive politicians have clashed with Amazon before, but that Mamdani’s recent actions speak to his political aspirations. “It’s smart for him because he is a national figure. He has national ambitions,” Sheinkopf said. “What better way to start the second phase of the revolution, but to take on the most recognizable delivery entity in the world?”