Ervin said the minimum wage for his workers under Amazon’s contract was $19.75. “If you ask people to make this a career, you should have better working conditions and pay your drivers more,” said Ervin, a 26-year Air Force veteran.
Amazon did not directly respond to this criticism. The company noted that its contractors, which it calls delivery service partners, have created 279,000 driver jobs over the past five years.
“Helping DSPs create a good overall work experience is important to us, which is why we have invested more than $8 billion in cutting-edge technologies, safety features, pricing, programs and services for Amazon DSPs and their drivers ” Paradis said. in a statement.
Labor groups have made some gains at Amazon, including organizing workers at a Staten Island warehouse. But Amazon is challenging elections there, and that union has been embroiled in infighting.
At FedEx there is another potential barrier to unionization.
FedEx was founded as an airline, and employees of its Express business fall under the Railway Labor Act, which requires unions to organize at the national and company levels at the same time. Union officials say it is easier to hold individual votes at each company location as allowed by the National Labor Relations Act, which regulates workers at UPS and automakers.
