Complaint Comes as Amazon Drivers
Nationwide Organize with Teamsters
PALMDALE, Calif., Oct. 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The National Labor Relations Board Region 31 (NLRB)
issued a formal complaint against Amazon affirming that the company
is a joint employer of its Delivery Service Partner (DSP) drivers
and has a legal duty to recognize and bargain with the Teamsters
Union. The complaint charges Amazon with dozens of unfair labor
practices that were deployed in an unsuccessful effort to thwart
organizing efforts by Amazon delivery drivers represented by
Teamsters Local 396 in Palmdale,
Calif. The complaint also requires Amazon to have its DSP
partners operating at the DAX8 fulfillment center in Palmdale offer positions to terminated drivers
as a remedy to their unlawful conduct.
"Amazon wants to reap the benefits of drivers' labor without
having to take on any of the responsibility for their wellbeing—and
those days are over," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "This decision brings us one
step closer to getting Amazon workers the pay, working conditions,
and contracts they deserve. Amazon has no choice but to meet us at
the negotiating table."
Amazon is now required to respond to the complaint on or before
October 15, 2024, and the NLRB will
prosecute the corporate giant at a hearing on March 25, 2025 before an NLRB administrative law
judge. The NLRB's complaint further sets the stage for the nearly
280,000 Amazon DSP drivers nationwide to organize with the
Teamsters.
Among the unfair labor practices charged in the NLRB's complaint
include Amazon unlawfully refusing to recognize the workers'
decision to unionize with the Teamsters; failing and refusing to
bargain with the Teamsters over conditions of employment and the
effects of its decision to terminate its DSP's contract;
threatening employees with job loss; holding unlawful captive
audience meetings; intimidating employees with security guards; and
other illegal retaliation against the group of newly unionized
workers.
In addition to rehiring terminated Teamsters drivers, the NLRB
is ordering Amazon to provide terminated employees with a neutral
letter of reference, post NLRB's explanation of employee rights
poster within the DAX8 facility for one year, and permit a board
agent to conduct a training on the National Labor Relations Act and
ULPs for all management employed at DAX8.
"Amazon can no longer hide behind its DSP program to skirt
responsibility for its driver workforce," said Bryant Cline, an Amazon driver and Local 396
member in Palmdale. "Today's
decision by the labor board makes official what we've long known to
be true—DSP drivers are Amazon employees, and we have a fundamental
right to organize, unionize, and demand fair treatment and a
contract from our multibillion-dollar employer."
Last year, the 84 Amazon workers from Palmdale became the first group of Amazon
delivery drivers in the country to organize a union. Since then,
the Palmdale Teamsters have inspired other Amazon workers to take
action, including drivers at Amazon's delivery station in
Skokie, Illinois and Queens, New York.
Amazon has avoided responsibility for its drivers through its
DSP subcontractor business model, claiming DSP drivers are not
official employees of Amazon. The NLRB's complaint rebuts Amazon's
argument, proving Amazon exercises widespread control over drivers'
working conditions, making Amazon the drivers' lawful employer.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto
Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow
us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Kara Deniz, (202)
497-6610
kdeniz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters