For some Amazon delivery workers in the Bronx, a typical day includes getting to the warehouse in the early morning, loading their trucks and getting ready to hit the road.
It’s all part of the daily grind at Cazare Logistics, one of many subcontractors hired by Amazon.
“I deliver packages for Amazon and FedEx in the New York City metro area. I employ over 100 W-2 employees with full benefits, and we’ve been happy doing this service for the past six-plus years,” Rudy Cazares, owner of Cazare Logistics, said.
Cazares says his business is in danger amid a push by local lawmakers to pass the Delivery Protection Act.
The bill would cut out Cazares as the company hiring and responsible for the delivery workers, instead requiring companies like Amazon to hire them directly.
Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán spearheaded the Delivery Protection Act, and says the legislation is about worker protections. On “Inside City Hall” last week, she said that some workers are exposed to unsafe vehicles in order to meet impossible quotas.
“We want to make sure that big companies aren’t able to use loopholes to get out of being liable for unsafe conditions that they ultimately create,” she told NY1.
Cazares, however, feels differently. He said he’s for added safety but not the elimination of critical small businesses.
“Any employer that is not doing right by their people, I feel they should be held accountable. But you don’t hold all of those employers doing the right thing accountable to those that may be bad actors,” Cazares said. “There’s no one that can guarantee them a job or employment but an employer, and we’re doing just that, so why throw out the baby with the bathwater?”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently threw his weight behind the bill. On Thursday, Julie Su, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice, discussed the bill on “Mornings On 1.”
“Because of this subcontracting model, it’s a way to avoid labor laws, and it’s also endangering the public, and we’re saying no to that, not in New York City,” Su said.
Cazares is the son of Mexican immigrants and served as a U.S. Marine for 15 years. He said he started his business as a way to achieve the American dream, but that could soon turn into a nightmare.
“To ask my team members to then commute to New Jersey, to Westchester, to Nassau County, I don’t feel is fair. And for me, it’s a non-negotiable,” he said.