Labor board confirms Amazon drivers are employees, in finding hailed by union

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to News@lemmy.world – 639 points –
Labor board confirms Amazon drivers are employees, in finding hailed by union
arstechnica.com

Huzzah!

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They're called "Amazon Freight Partners". Amazon sells you one of their trucks with $0 down and no driver experience required so you can "start your own business".

Then, you work as an independent contractor for Amazon. All you have to do is w/e they tell you since you have a truck to pay for.

In this case they're employees of a "delivery service partner".

It's roughly the same thing, except instead of driving a semitruck, you're hired as a contractor to hire and manage the delivery drivers, do everything Amazon tells you, and make sure your drivers do everything Amazon tells them as well.
That way Amazon can pressure you into abusing the driver's and claim it wasn't them, it's just that they hire terrible contractors. Refuse to negotiate because they don't work for them.

Which, quite clearly, isn't a thing you're allowed to do, since even if your employees get their checks from someone else they're still your employees since all the work they do is for you.

Well that sounds like a creative way to be screwed over.

FedEx ground is the same way. Not FedEx employees; owned by third parties. FedEx knows that in shipping the final mile tends to be the most expensive so they push it to the smaller more vulnerable companies.

Did they change? I worked for them as a sorter before they were FedEx Ground, and at that time it was similar, each driver was a contractor with FXG, but after the lawsuit (dunno what happened with that), and seeing how successful the scam was for Amazon, I wouldn't be surprised if'n they changed.

I think that where I live there are small companies that pay for the right to use FedEx logo-ed trucks and uniforms. I have had interactions with them because there was a driver that had a problem with some graffiti that was on the property where I live.

I contacted FedEx, and they gave me the low down. That was last year.

The name of the smaller operating companies are on the side of the FedEx trucks in smaller print.

If that changed I am ignorant to that. Also FedEx is not union.

FedEx is so very complicated, FXG isn't union, Federal Express is, IIRC something to do with them being under FAA authority. Not sure about FedEx Freight, FedEx LTL or FedEx Expediting. And that's just part of the mess of the company. As to the name thing, that was started by RPS, FXG's predecessor, and was a single contractor buying a route from RPS, with RPS supplying vans and uniforms much the way Amazon does with their companies, but it's entirely possible that some of those drivers bought multiple routes and formed up their own little company, or that FXG followed in Amazon's footsteps and switched to contracting with companies rather than individuals.

Amazon is particularly good at thinking up ways to avoid responsibility, they own no vans, employ no drivers, have no planes nor employ any pilots, and they don't own any tractors and don't employ any truck drivers.

God, that’s dirty. What a bunch of assholes, I’m glad they’re getting the stick.