Federal labor regulator says delivery drivers are Amazon employees

In a loss for Amazon that could force it to meet the Teamsters union at the bargaining table, a regional National Labor Relations Board director said Thursday that the company is a joint employer of some of the thousands of contractor delivery drivers who deliver its packages.
The e-commerce giant has previously argued that it should not be responsible for alleged union busting or required to bargain with driver unions, because the drivers who ferry packages to consumers’ doors in Amazon-branded vans work for third-party contractors called delivery service partners, or DSPs. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Thursday’s determination suggests that Amazon is wrong, finding that it failed to bargain in good faith after delivery drivers in Palmdale, Calif., voted to unionize in 2023, a first for the company’s delivery drivers. The regional NLRB director also found that Amazon had illegally targeted drivers in Palmdale with termination, threatened workers, and held unlawful captive audience meetings, according to labor board spokesperson Kayla Blado.