Amazon delivery workers and Teamsters shouted and booed each other Thursday at a raucous New York City Council hearing on a proposed bill that critics say could lead to thousands of lost jobs and much higher delivery bills.
The controversial Delivery Protection Act — which could force Amazon to employ its own delivery workers, putting scores of small companies that handle last-mile deliveries for Amazon out of business — drew hundreds on both sides of the issue to the marathon hearing.
The bill would require companies like Amazon, FedEx, DHL, FreshDirect and other businesses that operate distribution centers and deliver packages to consumers to be licensed by the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. It would also require those companies to directly employ their own delivery workers instead of hiring subcontractors.
“Licensing is a red herring,” said Randy Peers, chief executive of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “This comes down to a direct-hire mandate and the reality is that people will lose their jobs.”
As reported by The Post, the bill from far-left Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán could increase New Yorkers’ yearly delivery bills by $664, according to a draft of a study by consultancy AKRF.
Amazon subcontractors and their employees, along with the heads of local chambers of commerce, on Thursday rejected allegations that delivery workers have been operating in unsafe conditions, including accusations that they drive broken vans and trucks and are tasked with aggressive quotas that require them to speed.
“The people this bill is trying to protect are the first ones who will lose,” said Andrew Setlight, the owner of last-mile delivery company LBA Logistics.
Amazon accounts for one third of the last-mile delivery industry in the Big Apple, according to testimony at the hearing.
“What hangs in the balance is not just a business model – it’s the future of hard working New Yorkers, many of them immigrants, striving to achieve their version of the American dream,” said delivery subcontractor Grigor Puleri.
Amazon reps didn’t speak at the hearing, but the company submitted testimony saying the bill would threaten “the more than 40 local small businesses we partner with to deliver to Amazon customers and the jobs of the more than 5,000 people they employ.”
The company said it might have to move operations and delivery facilities outside the Big Apple if the bill passes.
The Teamsters union, which has been trying to organize Amazon warehouse workers for several years, is among the most vocal supporters of the bill.
“The energy, momentum and will of the people are on our side,” said Thomas Gesualdi, president of Teamsters Joint Council 16.
He called Amazon’s business model “dangerous” and “built on corporate greed.”
Cabán, a Queens Dem, said current law is outdated.
“Our lives, our workplaces and our streets have been fundamentally transformed by e‑commerce,” she said. “And yet, our regulations have not kept up with how goods are delivered to us.”
More than 1 billion packages are expected to be delivered in New York City this year, according to the councilwoman.
Known for its sprawling warehouses and demanding corporate culture, Amazon said the small size of its subcontractors is an advantage, pointing to the direct communication drivers have with ownership.
Setlight said, in fact, most of his employees would not want to work for Amazon if he lost his contract with the company.
“We’ve invited every [City Council] member to visit our delivery stations and meet with these partners and their employees before voting on legislation that could eliminate their businesses and displace thousands of New Yorkers from their jobs,” Amazon said.
The city would need at least nine months to set up “regime to regulate this industry,” said Carlos Ortiz, deputy commissioner of external affairs for the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
“We want to make sure we don’t have unintended consequences,” he added.
A spokesperson for Council Speaker Julie Menin, a Manhattan Dem, previously said the pol is waiting for the “bill to go through the legislative process, to receive input and engagement from stakeholders.”
Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Haley Brown.
