New York, NY — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has announced his support for the Delivery Protection Act. This legislation that would rein in the power of corporate delivery giants like Amazon.
This New York City legislation would hold many corporations accountable that are presently operating unfairly to workers. Many companies maintain an exploitative business model that makes City streets unsafe for workers, drivers and pedestrians.
Major corporations like Amazon have built billion-dollar businesses on a subcontracting system designed to shield them from responsibility. Through delivery subcontractors, corporations dictate hiring standards, delivery routes, steep productivity quotas and workplace expectations while denying that the workers making those deliveries are employees. The result is a system that leaves workers vulnerable and corporations free to avoid accountability for reckless conditions on city streets.
Sponsored by New York City Council Member Tiffany L. Cabán, the Delivery Protection Act would create a licensing system for certain last-mile warehouses and distribution facilities while establishing new safety, training and labor standards.
The legislation would also hold the company operating the facility, such as Amazon, responsible for employing the workers performing core services, such as delivery. That would give NYC the tools to regulate last-mile operations and ensure major companies like Amazon are responsible for the consequences of the business decisions they make.
“Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability through a system of exploitative subcontracting. As last-mile delivery centers have exploded across New York, so too have traffic accidents and worker injuries. The Delivery Protection Act is commonsense 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,” said Mayor Mamdani.
Last mile facilities are warehouses where packages are sorted and dispatched for final delivery. Since 2017, at least 18 large last-mile facilities have opened across New York City, including 11 since 2020. Although major delivery companies like Amazon do not always employ the drivers working out of these facilities directly, they nonetheless exert significant control over their actions and workplaces.
A recent Bloomberg Business week investigation found that Amazon controls “which drivers [delivery subcontractors] can hire, when they work, where they drive, what they say, how they [dress] and much more.”
“Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner model is the most dangerous business model in America today. It allows Amazon to break the law while hiding behind shell companies it has total control over,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “The Delivery Protection Act is the blueprint for how workers can fight back against Amazon’s greed. The New York City Council must pass this critical legislation and do its part to protect American workers.”
These facilities have also been linked to worsening traffic safety. A 2025 report from the Office of the Comptroller found that 78% of nearby areas experienced an increase in injury-causing crashes after last-mile facilities opened. In Maspeth, crashes near major FedEx and Amazon warehouses increased by 53% percent and 48% percent, respectively, while a cluster of facilities in East New York also experienced sharp increases in crashes within a half-mile radius.
The Delivery Protection Act would require last-mile facilities to obtain licenses from DCWP and establish minimum safety, training and worker protection standards. The legislation would also ensure companies are accountable for the quotas, schedules and routes that shape working conditions and affect public safety.
“Employers like Amazon put their workers in danger through unsafe working conditions and illegal activity that threatens the safety of the broader public. The Delivery Protection Act will force irresponsible corporations to take accountability of their operations, and finally bring white-collar crime to heel,” said Vincent Perrone, President of Local 804 IBT.
