Teamsters Push NYC to Outlaw Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner Model

The proposed legislation serves as a direct challenge to Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner program, which labor leaders argue allows the retail giant to evade legal accountability by operating through shell companies. By requiring facilities to be licensed and workers to be hired directly, the act aims to eliminate the buffer Amazon currently maintains between itself and its delivery staff. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien described the existing model as a dangerous framework that obscures corporate responsibility.

Amazon has responded with a significant financial offensive, pouring over $5 million into a lobbying campaign against the proposal. Investigations suggest that the Five Borough Jobs Campaign, which purports to represent small business interests, relies on Amazon for 97 percent of its funding. Labor advocates characterize this as a deceptive effort to mask corporate interests behind local business fronts. For workers like Latrice Johnson, who experienced sudden termination via text message after her DSP was shuttered, the bill represents a necessary check on the company's power to displace hundreds of employees without warning.