Amazon Flex drivers rallied in front of an Amazon fulfillment center in Woodland Park Thursday, demanding better wages and improved safety conditions while they deliver packages. Flex workers use their own vehicles to deliver packages for Amazon.
“Two years ago I was getting paid $160, even $190. We went down from $160 to $120, and now we’re all the way down to $86, for four-hour blocks. Not only that … instead of giving us the blocks we had before with 32 stops, now we’re getting up to 50 stops, for that amount of money,” said Amazon Flex driver Evelyn.
Many of their deliveries are now happening overnight, leaving drivers to navigate pitch-black roads and homes, or worse, threats from homeowners because they’re arriving in the middle of the night in unmarked cars. They’re asking for company lamps for their cars.
“Amazon Flex drivers are a group that is overlooked and underestimated,” said Garret O’Connor, the director of Worker Organizing and Policy for Make the Road New Jersey. “Amazon is the largest employer in the state of New Jersey, but these employees don’t count because Amazon has decided to call them independent contractors. This is a workforce that’s ignored. Their security issues are ignored, their working conditions are ignored.”
Branden Baribeau, an Amazon spokesperson, said, “We respect the right of individuals to peacefully protest — this was a small demonstration of individuals whose views are not representative of the vast majority of Amazon Flex delivery partners. Safety is always Amazon’s top priority, and we continuously invest in protecting drivers and community members. We’re thankful that violent incidents are exceedingly rare across our network and we’ll continue to invest to improve safety outcomes because even a single incident is one too many.”
