Current:Home > ContactAmazon boosts pay for subcontracted delivery drivers amid union pressure -Elite Financial Minds
Amazon boosts pay for subcontracted delivery drivers amid union pressure
View
Date:2025-04-16 09:19:21
Amazon is giving another pay boost to its subcontracted delivery drivers in the U.S. amid growing union pressure.
Drivers who work with Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners, or DSPs, will earn an average of nearly $22 per hour, a 7% bump from the previous average of $20.50, the company said Thursday.
The increase in wages is part of a new $2.1 billion investment the online retailer is making in the delivery program. Amazon doesn’t directly employ drivers but relies on thousands of third-party businesses that deliver millions of customer packages every day.
The company also gave a pay bump to U.S. drivers last year. Last week, it also said it would increase wages for front-line workers in the United Kingdom by 9.8% or more.
Amazon said the DSP program has created 390,000 driving jobs since 2018 and its total investments of $12 billion since then will help with safety programs and provide incentives for participating businesses.
U.S. labor regulators are putting more scrutiny on Amazon’s business model, which has put a layer of separation between the company and the workers who drive its ubiquitous gray-blue vans.
The Teamsters and other labor groups have argued that Amazon exercises great control over the subcontracted workforce, including by determining their routes, setting delivery targets and monitoring their performances. They say the company should be classified as a joint employer under the eyes of the law, which Amazon has resisted.
However, labor regulators are increasingly siding against the company.
Last week, a National Labor Board prosecutor in Atlanta determined Amazon should be held jointly liable for allegedly making threats and other unlawful statements to DSP drivers seeking to unionize in the city. Meanwhile, NLRB prosecutors in Los Angeles determined last month that Amazon was a joint employer of subcontracted drivers who delivered packages for the company in California.
If a settlement is not reached in those cases, the agency could choose to bring a complaint against Amazon, which would be litigated within the NLRB’s administrative law system. Amazon has the option to appeal a judge’s order to the agency’s board and eventually, to a federal court.
veryGood! (118)
Related
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- HELP sign on tiny Pacific island leads to Coast Guard and Navy rescue of 3 mariners stranded for over a week
- Congress is already gearing up for the next government funding fight. Will this time be any different?
- Absolutely 100 Percent Not Guilty: 25 Bizarre Things You Forgot About the O.J. Simpson Murder Trial
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- O.J. Simpson Dead at 76 After Cancer Battle
- Houston police reviewing if DNA tests could have helped in thousands of dropped cases
- Rashee Rice didn't have to be a warning for NFL players. The Chiefs WR became one anyway.
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife will have separate bribery trials, judge rules
Ranking
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- An ambitious plan to build new housing continues to delay New York’s state budget
- 2024 Masters Round 1 recap: Leaderboard, how Tiger Woods did, highlights
- NHL scoring title, final playoff berths up for grabs with week left in regular season
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Kevin Costner makes surprising 'Yellowstone' revelation after drama-filled exit
- A Washington man pleads not guilty in connection with 2022 attacks on an Oregon electrical grid
- Almost 10% of Florida’s youngest children were missed during the 2020 census
Recommendation
Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
Jersey Shore's Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and Sammi Giancola Finally Reunite for First Time in 8 Years
Off-duty SC police officer charged with murder in Chick-fil-A parking lot shooting
Biden Administration Slams Enbridge for Ongoing Trespass on Bad River Reservation But Says Pipeline Treaty With Canada Must Be Honored
Sam Taylor
Biden calls Netanyahu's handling of Israel-Hamas war a mistake, says I don't agree with his approach
O. J. Simpson's top moments off the field (and courtroom), from Hertz ads to 'Naked Gun'
Kourtney Kardashian Reveals Why She Pounded Her Breast Milk