The [84] drivers, who work for the Amazon delivery service partner (DSP) Battle-Tested Strategies in Palmdale, California, unionized with the Teamsters in late April, and are demanding that Amazon come to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract. Drivers have already negotiated and ratified a contract with the DSP, which voluntarily recognized their union.
Amazon has previously stated that, because the drivers don’t work directly for Amazon—they work for the DSP, which is then contracted by Amazon—that the company is not obligated to bargain with them. For the past month, the union has been trying to prove that wrong, saying that, despite Amazon placing all responsibility onto the DSP, it is in fact in “complete control” of the DSP’s operations.
While the strike is important, if we can get recognition that these subcontractors are just a way for corporations to dodge employment laws, that would be fucking HUGE.
This obfuscation of who works for who via a series of subcontracts is horrible. I personally know of the janitorial BS that got started by Winters Cleaning and the cinema industry in the 90s. There’s an article that Variety did on it some years back. It’s about removing responsibility from the company benefitting from the labor. It increases the likelihood that impoverished, desperate people will be taken advantage of. When problems are noticed the last company in the line of subcontractors just fold up. No one is held accountable.
If Amazon has deep control of operations due their contracts, then yes, Amazon is their employer.
While the strike is important, if we can get recognition that these subcontractors are just a way for corporations to dodge employment laws, that would be fucking HUGE.
I’ve been idly trying to come up with a framework that discourages this kind of behavior, and I haven’t come up with anything good. Got any ideas? Everything I come up with either wouldn’t work or would never get implemented.
A fucking livable minimum wage to start at. Universal health care for another. Free, or very inexpensive, education for a third. Basic things that other countries seem able to do.
Hopefully the whole ‘delivery service partner’ bullshit gets busted open. It’s nothing but a cutout.
Amazon hires a 3rd party company (the DSP) to deliver packages, then pays them for this. That would be two independent companies. Issue is, Amazon dictates nearly every aspect of the DSP business. So I would love to see it argued in court that there is not actually any separation between DSP and Amazon, since Amazon policy is in charge of working conditions for the DSP employees (and crucially NOT the DSP management), Amazon is required to negotiate with the workers.
Amazon will of course just fire the DSP here for non-performance. This is probably going to end up in court. I hope the union wins.
We work hard for a multibillion-dollar corporation. We should be able to provide food and clothes for our kids.
Why is this never the case for people who acrutually work hard? And why are the lazy people at the top who get more money? This world is wrong.
Fuck Amazon
Awesome! I wish them success!
Good for them! Fuck Amazon!
Need to get more companies to stop selling their items solely on Amazon. I hate when I try to go to a manufacturers website and they only sell what I’m looking for on amazon
UPS strike at the same time right? Solidarity!
UPS employees overwhelmingly agreed to go on strike if their demands aren’t met by July 31st. These Amazon drivers are on strike now - all 84 of them, at one facility, obviously. They’re like the Boston Tea Party.
By contrast, there are 340k Teamsters working for UPS. Their forming picket lines will grind things to a halt in really short order. Good on those Amazon drivers! Hope others join in solidarity.
