Amazon Delivery Drivers Unionized. Now They Have to Prove They Work for Amazon

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7bdwy/amazon-delivery-drivers-unionized-now-they-have-to-prove-they-work-for-amazon

by paulpauper • 3 years ago

27 8 3 years ago

CraigRo• 3 years ago

Strikes me as an uphill lift. Amazon didn't agree to this contract, so going to be hard to enforce it. Most likely Amazon drops BTS if the union goes on strike

mikebonnell• 3 years ago

It appears that Amazon has already said that they're going to be dropped, strike or no strike.

doktorhladnjak• 3 years ago

At the end of the article, it reads like BTS was already about to be dropped by Amazon before the unionization was announced.

It sounds like it could be a Hail Mary by BTS ownership. Why else would an employer immediately concede to union demands? Especially when they know they’re bound to a strict contract with Amazon on pay?

They might be hoping a court rules that Amazon must adhere to the contract. Otherwise, they’re out of business.

bbbbzzz1• 3 years ago

To its credit, the owner of the DSP, Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS), voluntarily recognized the union and signed the collective bargaining agreement almost immediately.
The problem? Amazon did not.

The headline is misleading and doesn't make it clear the workers don't directly work for Amazon. They work for Battle-Tested Strategies

cwillu• 3 years ago

That's the point in question:

The union’s next step is proving that wrong. Amazon, it says, is a joint employer of the drivers, and in full control of the conditions that caused them to organize—low pay, unsafe heat conditions, and extreme performance requirements—despite the fact that it places those responsibilities on the DSP.

LispSporks22• 3 years ago

I don’t get why Amazon sets the pay for BTS for their drivers

suddenclarity• 3 years ago

They don't. Kinda. They pay for the service but BTS argues that they are not paid enough to be able to provide higher wages.

kotaKat• 3 years ago

It's like the FedEx Ground model. Amazon is paying the contracted service provider (BTS) X amount for the route + Y amount for every stop and package, and fines them for various service failures and issues.

It's on the service provider to then use that income to pay their drivers appropriately themselves.

BTS rolled over because they literally can't do anything from a management perspective regardless if Amazon won't give them any more money to do their job and pay downwards to its employees. Amazon will just simply choose to stop doing business with BTS as a whole and move on from this and screw them all over.

Amazon Delivery Drivers Unionized. Now They Have to Prove They Work for Amazon

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