AMAZON.COM plans to spend an additional US$2.1 billion on its contract delivery programme, including safety programmes, training and additional pay for the contracting firms.
The company said it expects the outlays to raise average pay for drivers, who pilot Amazon-branded vans but technically work for independent companies that Amazon calls Delivery Service Partners (DSPs), to almost US$22 an hour, up 7 per cent from a year earlier.
Contractors and their teams “go to great lengths to take care of Amazon customers, and that’s why we want to support DSPs with our biggest investment yet”, Beryl Tomay, an Amazon vice-president, said announcing the move.
Amazon tends to announce increased outlays for the programme annually. The additional US$2.1 billion will be spent in the US and Canada in 2025.
The company’s contract delivery model, which is similar to that used by FedEx, has been criticised by labour groups that claim it helps the company shirk responsibility for drivers. Multiple National Labor Relations Board officials have argued that Amazon is a co-employer of DSP drivers who made claims against the company. The subcontracted delivery companies are also a focus of organising efforts by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which has vowed to unionise Amazon workers.
Amazon has recently been expanding a variant of its contract delivery programme that has contract drivers deliver smaller loads of packages in Kia Souls, rather than larger cargo vans. BLOOMBERG
