Amazon may be forced to bring some of its unionized delivery workers to the bargaining table after a regional director for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found on Thursday that Amazon is a joint employer of contractors hired to ensure the e-commerce giant delivers its packages on time.
It appears to be a potentially big loss for Amazon, which has long argued that delivery service partners (DSPs) solely employ the delivery drivers, not Amazon. In rejecting its employer status, Amazon had previously argued that it had no duty to negotiate with drivers’ unions and no liability for alleged union busting, The Washington Post reported.
But now, after a year-long investigation, the NLRB has issued a decision that the Amazon delivery workers union describes as “a groundbreaking decision that clears the way for Amazon delivery workers across the country to organize with the Teamsters.”
In a press release seen by Ars, the NLRB’s regional director confirmed that Amazon, as a joint employer, “unlawfully failed and refused to bargain with the union” after terminating its DSP contract and firing “all unionized employees.” The NLRB concluded that instead of negotiating with the union, Amazon “delayed start times by grounding delivery trucks and failing to prepare packages for loading,” withheld information from the union, and “made unlawful threats.” The Teamsters said those threats included “job losses” and “intimidating workers with security guards.”
Teamsters President Sean M. O'Brien claimed this was a victory for the drivers' union not only in California, but for nearly 280,000 drivers across the country.
“Amazon drivers took their future into their own hands and won a monumental decision that made it clear that Amazon has a legal obligation to negotiate with its drivers about their working conditions,” O’Brien said. “This strike has paved the way for every other Amazon worker in the country to demand what they deserve and bring Amazon to the bargaining table.”
If a settlement is not reached, the NLRB will soon “file a complaint against Amazon and prosecute the multinational corporation in a trial,” after finding that “Amazon engaged in a long list of egregious unfair labor practices at its Palmdale facility,” the Teamsters said.
Amazon is apparently downplaying the NLRB's ruling, claiming the Teamsters are trying to “misrepresent what's happening here.” Amazon appears to disagree with the union, which argues that an NLRB ruling on the merits of their case would be a major victory, even though the NLRB has not yet issued a final ruling.
According to the NLRB's press release, “a review of the merits is not an 'administrative decision/ruling,' but the first step in the NLRB's general counsel's litigation of the allegations after an unfair labor practice allegation has been investigated.”
Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards told Ars that the NLRB office has confirmed to Amazon that it will “dismiss most of the Teamsters' principal claims it filed last year in Palmdale.” That apparently includes dismissing the Teamsters' claims that Amazon wrongfully terminated the contract with one of their DSPs, and that Amazon had a legal obligation to honor the Teamsters' contract with that DSP.
Next, the NLRB will determine whether the “remaining allegations should be decided by an administrative law judge,” Hards said. After that, Amazon will have the opportunity to appeal any adverse rulings, first to the board and then to a federal appeals court, the NLRB confirmed to Ars.
Hards confirmed that Amazon still expects all of the Teamsters' remaining claims to be dismissed.
“As we have said all along, there is no merit to the Teamsters' claims,” Hards told Ars. “If and when the agency decides to pursue the remaining allegations, we expect they will be dismissed as well.”
However, Hards declined to comment on the implications of the NLRB's finding that Amazon is a joint employer of the unionized delivery workers.
Jessie Moreno, an Amazon driver in Palmdale, said working conditions for Amazon drivers could improve because of the determination.
“Amazon can no longer avoid responsibility for our low wages and dangerous working conditions, and it can no longer get away with unfair labor practices,” Moreno said. “We are Amazon workers, and we hold Amazon accountable.”
Amazon drivers unite 'like never before'
The NLRB’s decision came after a complaint from 84 Amazon workers in Palmdale, California. They were the first Amazon delivery workers to unionize, represented by Teamsters Local 396, in April 2023.
Although their DSP recognized the union, workers began an unfair labor strike in June 2023 after Amazon allegedly “engaged in dozens of unfair labor practices that violate federal labor law in an attempt to crush workers’ organizing efforts,” the Teamsters said.
The picket line quickly expanded “to more than 50 Amazon warehouses in 10 states,” the Teamsters said. Most recently, drivers in Skokie, Illinois, “launched their own unfair labor practices strike in June 2024,” around the same time that “more than 5,500 members of the Amazon Labor Union in New York voted an overwhelming 98.3 percent to join the Teamsters.”
In their blog, the Teamsters wrote that Amazon has been “avoiding responsibility for its drivers through its DSP subcontracting model” since 2018, but drivers are hoping the NLRB’s decision yesterday will put an end to this shady tactic.
“The NLRB’s joint employer decision shatters the myth” that “DSP drivers are not official employees of Amazon” and “makes clear that, through the DSP business model, Amazon exercises extensive control over drivers’ labor and working conditions, making Amazon the drivers’ employer,” the Teamsters said.
The Teamsters said they are “confident” that “the NLRB’s regional determination for Palmdale workers will extend to Amazon DSP drivers unionizing nationwide.” One union member and Amazon driver, Brandi Diaz, celebrated what she saw as the U.S. government’s recognition that the DSP program is a “sham.”
“We wear Amazon uniforms, we drive Amazon vans, and Amazon monitors every minute of our day,” Diaz said. “Amazon can no longer have all the benefits of their own fleet of drivers without the responsibilities that come with it. It’s time for Amazon drivers across the country to organize with the Teamsters and demand what we deserve.”
Drivers are currently fighting to raise wages and improve driver safety amid what they allege are unchecked dangerous conditions they face as Amazon drivers. Moreno said the NLRB decision was an important step toward uniting more drivers and ending Amazon’s allegedly unfair labor practices across the country.
“We are striking to stop Amazon’s violations of the law, and we are winning at the NLRB, while uniting Amazon workers across the country like never before,” Moreno said.
