Every workday, Luc Rene puts on a shirt and pants branded with Amazon’s logo and heads to a distribution center, where he climbs into a van that also carries Amazon’s logo across its side to deliver packages with the company’s swoosh smile emblazoned on them. When he rings customers’ doorbells, he yells out, “Amazon.”
But Rene is not technically an Amazon employee. He’s employed by a delivery service provider (DSP) that contracts out his labor.
That could soon change in New York City, where Rene lives and works, if the City Council passes the Delivery Protection Act. The bill would require companies like Amazon to directly employ the people who deliver their packages while also creating a licensing system that would hold the companies to new safety, training, and labor standards. It has the backing of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and 31 of the council’s 51 members—enough for it to pass if brought to a vote. Supporters of the bill say it would increase street safety while also providing better protection for the workers who deliver Amazon packages.
Amazon has lobbied heavily against the bill. “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,” Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly tells Fast Company .
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