A political battle over the future of package delivery in New York City intensified this week as small-business owners, drivers, and City Hall collided over a bill that could reshape how goods reach millions of residents.
At the center of the storm sits the Delivery Protection Act, a Teamsters-backed proposal that would force companies operating last-mile warehouses to directly hire their delivery workers rather than subcontracting the work out to independent businesses.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani placed his political capital behind the measure Monday, calling out major corporations for what he described as exploitative business practices.
“Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability through a system of exploitative subcontracting,” Mamdani said.
The mayor characterized the legislation as a straightforward fix.
He called it “common-sense regulation that protects delivery workers, safeguards the communities where these facilities operate and ensures that the corporations benefiting from workers’ labor are responsible for the consequences of their business practices.”
Yet the price tag attached to that fix has become a flashpoint.
Consultancy AKRF calculated that the bill would tack on an additional $664 annually to the average New York household’s delivery expenses.
Industry voices wasted no time reacting to the projected cost. “This law is just going to raise prices for consumers,” Business Council of New York State spokesperson Steve Smith told The Post.
Amazon‘s network in the city currently spans more than 40 independent Delivery Service Partners, together responsible for employing upward of 5,000 workers.
Company officials have signaled that the new requirements could push those operations beyond city limits entirely.
Such a move, according to AKRF’s earlier findings, would translate into delays and higher costs for customers who currently rely on rapid delivery windows.
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly A. Nantel framed the company’s position around its existing workforce commitments.
“We’re committed to creating good jobs, supporting our thousands of employees and local small business partners in New York City and providing fast, reliable delivery for New Yorkers,” Nantel said.
She then detailed what the company views as the bill’s real-world fallout.
“But as written, this legislation would directly undermine that commitment — threatening the small businesses that deliver to customers, putting the jobs of more than 5,000 of their employees at risk and forcing us to consider relocating delivery operations outside of the city,” Nantel said.
Resistance to the bill spilled into the streets Monday, as delivery workers and small-business owners gathered for a midday demonstration at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem.
The rally, organized under the banner of the New York Delivers coalition, aimed to pressure city leaders into rejecting the proposal.
Coalition organizers estimate the legislation puts roughly 10,000 delivery jobs across the city in jeopardy, with about 3,500 of those concentrated in Harlem and the four City Council districts surrounding it.
Demographic data released by the coalition adds another layer to the debate: 82% of last-mile delivery workers hold no college degree, and 84% identify as non-white, according to the group’s figures.
Rudy Cazares, who operates an Amazon Delivery Service Partner and also contracts with FedEx, stands to lose everything if the bill passes, he told The Post.
“I would be shutting my business down. I have no business,” Cazares said.
His company currently keeps roughly 130 people on payroll, with additional hiring during high-demand stretches like the holiday season.
Entry-level drivers start at $23.75 per hour, Cazares said, while veteran drivers can climb to nearly $27 hourly.
Cazares stressed the formal nature of his employment structure. “All my employees are W2, either full time or part time with benefits, paying payroll taxes,” he said.
He disputed any suggestion that his business functions as a mere intermediary shielding Amazon from responsibility.
“They control the sorting of the packages. They stage them for us. We pick them up and we go deliver them,” Cazares said, describing his company’s actual role in the delivery chain.
Even while conceding that Amazon pushes its partners toward greater efficiency, Cazares argued that regulators could tackle those concerns without destroying the businesses caught in the middle.
“There’s been no dialogue that includes the small businesses that are the ones making this happen,” he said. “This direct hire mandate will eliminate every small business out there that delivers packages for any business,” he warned.
Even within city government, hesitation has surfaced. Carlos Ortiz, deputy commissioner of external affairs for the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, raised concerns at an April Council hearing.
“We want to make sure we don’t have unintended consequences,” Ortiz said.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin has yet to take a public position, according to a spokesperson, who said the Manhattan Democrat wants the bill to complete the legislative process and gather stakeholder input first.
Teamsters spokesperson Matt McQuaid dismissed corporate objections as self-serving.
“Amazon will say or do whatever it takes to deny workers stronger rights and wages and abdicate its responsibilities for its own employees, which is why journalists are obliged to expose these greedy corporate tactics and not serve as stenographers for the company’s anti-worker propaganda,” McQuaid said.
FedEx also entered the debate, with a company spokesperson emphasizing the growing role last-mile facilities play in citywide logistics.
The company confirmed it is coordinating directly with the New York Delivers coalition on the legislation.
