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.<\/p>\n
The controversial Delivery Protection Act \u2014 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 \u2014 drew hundreds on both sides of the issue to the marathon hearing.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. It would also require those companies to directly employ their own delivery workers instead of hiring subcontractors.<\/p>\n
An Amazon delivery worker pulls a cart full of boxes for delivery in New York City on Nov. 29, 2021. REUTERS<\/p>\n
\u201cLicensing is a red herring,\u201d said Randy Peers, chief executive of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. \u201cThis comes down to a direct-hire mandate and the reality is that people will lose their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
As reported by The Post<\/a>, the bill from far-left Councilwoman Tiffany Cab\u00e1n could increase New Yorkers\u2019 yearly delivery bills by $664, according to a draft of a study by consultancy AKRF.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people this bill is trying to protect are the first ones who will lose,\u201d said Andrew Setlight, the owner of last-mile delivery company LBA Logistics.<\/p>\n Amazon accounts for one third of the last-mile delivery industry in the Big Apple, according to testimony at the hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat hangs in the balance is not just a business model \u2013 it\u2019s the future of hard working New Yorkers, many of them immigrants, striving to achieve their version of the American dream,\u201d said delivery subcontractor Grigor Puleri.<\/p>\n A worker passes a conveyor of fast-moving packages on their way to delivery trucks at Amazon\u2019s fulfillment center in Robbinsville, NJ, on Nov. 29, 2021. REUTERS<\/p>\n