Amazon raises pay for outsourced delivery drivers under union pressure

As of September 13, 2024, under the increasing pressure from unions, Amazon has decided to once again raise the pay of its outsourced delivery drivers in the United States.

Amazon announced on Thursday that drivers working with Amazon's Delivery Service Partners (DSPs) will earn an average of nearly $22 per hour, a 7% increase from the previous average of $20.50 per hour. This pay raise is part of a new $2.1 billion investment in Amazon's delivery service program. Amazon does not directly hire drivers but relies on thousands of third-party companies to deliver millions of customer packages. Last year, Amazon also gave pay raises to its drivers in the United States. Last week, it also said it would increase the wages of frontline workers in the UK by 9.8% or more.

Amazon said that since 2018, the DSP program has created 390,000 driving jobs. The $12 billion investment will be used for safety programs and provide incentives for participating businesses. Currently, US labor regulators are conducting more scrutiny of Amazon's business model because it creates a separation between the company and delivery drivers. Truck drivers' unions and other labor groups believe that Amazon has significant control over its outsourced workforce and should be classified as a joint employer, but Amazon resists this.

However, labor regulators are increasingly inclined to oppose Amazon. Last week, a National Labor Relations Board prosecutor in Atlanta determined that Amazon should share responsibility for allegedly making illegal remarks such as threats to DSP drivers seeking to unionize in the city. At the same time, a National Labor Relations Board prosecutor in Los Angeles determined last month that Amazon is a joint employer of outsourced drivers who deliver packages for it in California. If a settlement cannot be reached, the agency can file a complaint against Amazon and enter litigation in the administrative legal system of the National Labor Relations Board. Amazon can appeal a judge's order to the agency's board and even to a federal court.