New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing a city council bill that would require Amazon, FedEx, and other big delivery operators to employ drivers directly instead of using subcontractors, according to the Wall Street Journal. Under the Delivery Protection Act, warehouse operators would need city licenses, and getting one would mean meeting safety, training, and employment standards that put thousands of contract drivers on payroll.
Mamdani said in a statement:
“Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability through a system of exploitative subcontracting.”
Mamdani also said the bill could help reduce traffic accidents, citing a 2025 city comptroller report, which determined that injury-causing crashes rose in 78% of neighborhoods after last-mile facilities opened nearby. Though I’m not exactly sure how, if it’s the same drivers who are just employed differently.
Amazon said it would consider relocating its warehouses outside of New York City if the bill passed and warned that the measure could put more than 5,000 delivery jobs at risk — but I think they’re bluffing. Why would their jobs be at risk? Would Amazon not hire those same contractors as employees in order to continue serving NYC residents? In fact, the bill includes an employee retention clause requiring operators to offer jobs to the contract workers displaced by the change, so those 5,000 people would be first in line for the payroll positions Amazon says it doesn’t want to create.
Besides, what else are they going to do… move their operations to New Jersey? Last week, I reported that New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is suing Amazon over the practice, so New Jersey might not be a safe haven for it much longer either.
Amazon also noted that its Delivery Service Partner program has paved a path to business ownership for operators (so they’re saying it’s a good thing), though I’d argue that those unnecessary operator profits could’ve gone directly to the drivers without the liability-evading middlemen. Plus, Amazon exploits the shit out of those DSP operators anyway, so no loss there if that model gets dissolved.
If the bill passes, New York would become the first city to require last-mile delivery operators to hire their drivers directly.
