‘Delivery Protection Act’ Pits NYC Mayor Mamdani And The Teamsters Against Amazon

Aug 15, 2026 07:30 PM - 2 hours ago 2

Topline

A conjugation of Amazon Teamsters, the Alliance for a Greater New York and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union rallied astatine New York City Hall to push transition of the Mayor Zohran Mamdani-backed “Delivery Protection Act” that would require Amazon to employment each last-mile transportation drivers successful the metropolis alternatively than trust connected subcontractors.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 3: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a reside to people the 250th day of the United States of America astatine City Hall connected July 3, 2026 successful New York City. (Photo by Anna Connors - Pool/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

The Delivery Protection Act would prohibit Amazon, FedEx and different logistics companies from utilizing third-party contractors for last-mile deliveries and halfway storage services passim the 5 New York City boroughs.

Joining the Teamsters successful support of the Act are the AFL-CIO-affiliated New York City Central Labor Council and a supermajority of metropolis assembly members.

Opposition comes from a broad-based business coalition—Amazon, FedEx, logistics and trucking firms, each 5 borough chambers of commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Tech: NYC, the Supply Chain Federation, the Trucking Association of New York, the Five Borough Jobs Campaign and others.

A study commissioned by the Five Borough Jobs Campaign estimated transition would summation yearly transportation costs to New York households by $664 and frighten much than 10,000 metropolis workers.

With the measure pending a City Council vote, supporters person intensified their efforts to push the ballot guardant aft Mayor Mamdani threw his support down it—calling Amazon’s contractor-based transportation exemplary exploitative and a threat to NYC workers, drivers and pedestrians.

Key Background

First introduced past September by Queens assembly personnel Tiffany Cabán and carried complete into 2026, the Delivery Protection Act would require a licence to run immoderate last-mile accommodation successful the metropolis and instruction that each transportation and storage hubs run pinch labor not statement workers. Supporters of the Act declare that Amazon uses its third-party Delivery Service Providers exemplary to “underpay workers, disregard unsafe moving conditions, and shield itself from accountability erstwhile it breaks the rule aliases endangers communities.”

Crucial Quote

“Corporations for illustration Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability done a strategy of exploitative subcontracting,” said Mayor Mamdani. Calling the Delivery Protection Act a commonsense regularisation to protect workers, he added, “It’s clip to extremity the subcontracting exemplary that puts profits complete group and build an system that useful for moving New Yorkers.”

Amazon Defends Its DSP Business Model

Amazon argues the Delivery Protect Act would negatively effect much than 40 Delivery Service Providers and frighten complete 5,000 jobs astatine these mini business partners. In grounds submitted successful April, the institution said that DSP drivers gain an mean of astir $24 per hr successful wages, pinch full-time drivers receiving wellness attraction sum and paid clip disconnected that transcend metropolis minimums. Many DSP firms besides connection further benefits, including status accounts and tuition reimbursement. Amazon besides cited much than $2.5 cardinal invested successful information initiatives since 2019, including an in-person Last Mile Driver Academy that has trained complete 180,000 drivers, camera-equipped transportation vans and much than 800 electrical cargo bikes deployed successful Manhattan and Brooklyn. If the Act passes, Amazon warned it whitethorn beryllium forced to relocate its 10 distribution centers extracurricular New York City, resulting successful slower transportation times to customers.

Chief Critic

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board argues that the Delivery Protect Act is simply a trial lawsuit for the Teamsters and its friends to destruct subcontracted transportation activity nationwide. The committee points to United Parcel Service laying disconnected tens of thousands of workers, attributing the cuts successful portion to the costs of its 2023 Teamsters labour contract. It claims Amazon’s elastic and businesslike third-party DPS web is now delivering galore of the packages that unionized UPS drivers would antecedently person handled. Noting that the National Labor Relations Act prohibits subcontracted and independent contractors to unionize, the committee wrote, “Abolishing the independent contracting exemplary has been a longtime extremity of the governmental left, and they don’t mind if they tally complete the small feline successful the process.”

Tangent

Amazon has been astatine likelihood pinch the New York governmental constitution before. In 2019, Amazon scuttled plans to unfastened a 2nd NYC office successful Queens aft guidance from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, authorities senators and section activists—a move that costs the metropolis an estimated 25,000 high-paying jobs. At the time, Governor Andrew Cuomo blasted the decision, stating “a mini group of politicians put their ain constrictive governmental interests supra their community.”