Teamsters Organize Amazon Drivers in Fight for Security and Dignity

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor and Bridget Alicia Ramirez, Columnist

Last week, we met two of the more than 500 Amazon drivers who participated in pickets demanding union recognition and respect for the workers who deliver its packages. Their demands go beyond pay to include safer working conditions, predictable schedules, and the security needed to make a living.

Laurie Taylor, 62, who has worked in Amazon’s delivery network for five years, and Reilley Smith, 23, a driver for a year and a half, are both employed by Accelerated Logistics, an Amazon delivery service provider (DSP). Their experiences illustrate how Amazon controls much of the delivery process while maintaining that drivers work for independent contractors.

Amazon shapes routes, workloads, and the branded uniforms and vans drivers use. Yet when problems arise, workers can find themselves caught between Amazon and the subcontractor that pays them.

Drivers must load their vans and deliver assigned packages within tightly controlled shifts. Smith, who typically works Sunday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., said he often scrambles for additional hours when business slows early in the year. Work generally increases during the Christmas season.

Although his schedule includes a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute rest breaks, taking them all can be difficult.

“We’re expected to finish a 10-hour workload in less time, so taking all those breaks can be difficult,” Smith said.

Even restroom breaks can be a challenge. When asked about them, Smith held up a water bottle, suggesting drivers sometimes resort to improvised solutions rather than risk falling behind.

Taylor averages 350 to 400 packages per shift. Heavy totes and poorly organized overflow packages make the workload harder to manage.

“The totes are so heavy that they increased things so much that the overflow size has increased. It doesn’t fit on the shelves. Large boxes don’t fit on the shelves,” Taylor said.

Smaller packages that once fit neatly on shelves are sometimes placed in large shipping bags. Pulling out one package can disrupt the others, making deliveries harder to locate and routes more difficult to complete on time.

The vans present additional problems. Smith said some are poorly maintained, with broken air conditioning and ants that have gotten into his lunch.

“Some vans, you know, people don’t have AC working,” he said. “I’ve had many vans with just ants all over the van. They’ve gotten in my lunch.”

Taylor noted that the strong El Niño coming to Southern California is going to impact drivers. 

“The rainy season is approaching, and they are telling us, ‘Go buy yourself a raincoat.’ I don’t want to spend $45 on a raincoat my job should provide. I don’t have $45 to spend on a raincoat. I don’t make enough money.”

For Taylor, the problem is a widening gap between the demands placed on workers and the compensation they receive.

“They just keep wanting more from us, yet they don’t give anything in return. We have made trillions of dollars of profits for this company, and they don’t reflect that to us,” Taylor said.

“While they are off making huge amounts of money, here we are working for the same wages, but we can’t support our children, support our parents, so many things we have to take care of, mothers to take care of. How am I supposed to pay for this?”

The financial strain follows workers home, turning ordinary household decisions into difficult trade-offs.

“Having to decide what’s getting paid — is it food or is it going to be gas? Am I going to buy the healthy food I choose to eat or do I have to lower my standards to get cheap food?” Taylor said.

Unpredictable scheduling compounds those pressures. Drivers placed on “standby” must remain available but may receive no route or only a shortened shift. Some drivers believe the system can be used to punish workers whom management dislikes, Smith said, adding to concerns about their control over their hours and income.

Taylor said organizing with Teamsters Local 396 was a long time coming. After watching the union support Amazon workers during the previous holiday season, she decided it was time for drivers at her facility to join the effort.

Their priorities include predictable schedules, job security, safe working conditions and fair, livable wages.

Building a movement

Max Amberger, an organizer with the Teamsters Amazon Division in Southern California and a former Amazon worker, said the union is combining workplace organizing with legislative efforts to hold Amazon accountable across its delivery network.

The immediate goal is to build a nationwide movement that pressures Amazon to recognize the union and negotiate with drivers.

“As the movement grows, we can build the pressure needed to bring Amazon to the table,” Amberger said.

The Torrance-area pickets are part of that broader campaign. Amberger emphasized that support from other unions and the community will be essential.

“The more solidarity we build between our organizations, the stronger we’ll be,” he said. “The ILWU represents port workers, and the Teamsters represent logistics workers in inland areas. We’re two pieces of the same puzzle.”

That connection is especially important in the Los Angeles Harbor Area, where port workers and delivery drivers occupy different links in the same supply chain. Amberger said he hopes to strengthen ties among Amazon Teamsters, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and other South Bay unions.

Legislatively, Amberger pointed to New York City’s proposed Delivery Protection Act, which would restrict the use of subcontractors for last-mile delivery and establish health and safety requirements, including vehicle-maintenance provisions. The Teamsters support the measure as part of a broader effort to hold companies accountable for the workers who deliver their goods.

Amberger also described California legislation intended to let the state’s Public Employment Relations Board provide relief when the National Labor Relations Board cannot act quickly enough in a labor dispute. He said federal lawsuits have stalled the measure and predicted further legislative efforts in 2027, including initiatives in Southern California.

The campaign also seeks public support. Amberger encouraged people to talk with their Amazon drivers about organizing. Yard signs featuring a message of support and a QR code have helped demonstrate that the workers’ fight extends beyond the delivery station.

Workers are not cogs in a machine

Publisher James Preston Allen’s book, The Past Is Not Even the Past Anymore, offers a fitting frame for the struggle. Amazon’s delivery model reflects a longstanding conflict between businesses seeking greater productivity and workers seeking control over their time, safety and economic security.

Drivers wear Amazon-branded uniforms, deliver its packages and work within a system shaped by its demands, yet are employed by subcontractors. For Taylor and Smith, the consequences include uncertain hours, punishing workloads, poorly maintained vehicles and the struggle to make ends meet.

Their union campaign seeks to change that imbalance. Its success will depend on workers building enough solidarity to bring Amazon to the bargaining table, lawmakers establishing stronger protections, and the public recognizing the people behind the packages at its door.

The packages may carry Amazon’s name, but the labor that moves them belongs to the workers. They deserve a voice in how the job is done — and a fair share of the security and dignity their work should provide.