WEBVTT - What Trump Delivered for Amazon 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:04.080 What Trump delivered for Amazon. The FEDS were pushing a 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.920 landmark case about Amazon's control of its contract drivers. Then 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:12.760 the president put Amazon's former lawyer in charge. By Josh Idelson, 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:17.759 read aloud by Mark Leidorf. When government officials shut down 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:21.120 major roads and highways in southern California during a record 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.840 storm in the winter of twenty twenty three, it seemed 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.520 obvious to Jonathan Irvin that his delivery driver should stay home. 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:31.720 Irvin was the owner of battle tested Strategies in Palmdale, 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.080 one of thousands of small businesses Amazon dot Com has 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:38.839 hired over the years to deliver its packages. Palmdale is 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:41.479 on the north side of Los Angeles County, which was 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:46.040 experiencing an unusual winter storm. Snow circled the Hollywood Sign. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:49.519 The mountains near Palmdale received their first blizzard warning in 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.360 thirty four years, and other parts of the county were 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:56.000 warned to expect flash floods. Flights to La X were 0:00:56.040 --> 0:01:00.480 briefly grounded, beaches and parks shut down, and Disneyland's Magic 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.760 Happens Show didn't go on. But the decision about whether 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.080 to brave the storm wasn't up to Irvin, he says, 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.520 the manager of Amazon's local warehouse ordered him to send 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:13.240 his drivers out. I was like, what are you talking about, 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.760 recalls Irvin, a US Air Force veteran who served in 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:21.039 Operation Iraqi Freedom. The roads are closed. He sent the 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.080 Amazon rep videos he'd shot on his phone that showed 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.400 snowy roads blocked off by orange cones with the flashing 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.240 lights of a police cruiser standing guard. He was like, well, 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:35.360 we still have to attempt delivery, Irvin says, Central Ops said, 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.920 we must attempt delivery. The manager wouldn't refer Irvin to 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:41.920 anyone at Central Ops, he says, and when he stressed 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.360 that sending out his drivers would put them in danger, 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:49.320 the rep kept repeating delivery must be attempted. Irvin, who 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.840 was in the middle of an escalating series of conflicts 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.440 with Amazon, says he felt the company was leaving him 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.440 no choice. If his drivers didn't head out into the storm, 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:01.760 battle tested strategies contract with Themmazon, its sole customer would 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.720 be at risk. We are still going to send your drivers, 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.240 the manager had told him, according to a lawsuit he 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:10.920 later filed in California State Court. In the end, he says, 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.680 the team ended up trying to follow the order. A 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.679 couple of months later, Amazon informed him it was canceling 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.240 the contract anyway, and Irvin's business soon went co put. 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:25.080 They control everything, he says, You're just a cog. In 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:29.400 response to a detailed inquiry from Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Amazon spokesperson 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:32.920 Sam Stephenson said in a statement, we closely monitor our 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.360 nationwide operations twenty four to seven to help prevent weather 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:40.840 related disruptions from impacting our employees, partners, and customers. He 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.280 said the company uses a best in class Amazon developed 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:48.280 tool to flag expected severe weather events, establishes a clear 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.800 plan for delivery vendors to make adjustments as needed, and 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.760 can communicate directly with drivers to ensure they can seek 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:59.200 shelter or take breaks depending on conditions. In its statement, 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:02.760 Amazon also said that people in Irvin's position have full 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:06.120 control over their operations and that the vast majority of 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.080 them tell us that they love being entrepreneurs who create 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.000 good jobs and have a positive impact in their communities. 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.560 The company said Irvin is an outlier whose contract was 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:20.640 terminated for repeated safety violations. In his California lawsuit, Irvin 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:25.040 says Amazon's stated reason for terminating him were unsubstantiated, and 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:27.440 that the company cut him off in retaliation for being 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:32.040 a whistleblower. In a filing, the company denied generally and specifically, 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:36.640 each and every allegation in that suit. Amazon calls businesses 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:40.640 like irvins its delivery service partners. Over the past decade, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.880 Amazon has built a network of thousands of DSPs to 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.920 deploy hundreds of thousands of drivers who deliver some twenty 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:51.480 million packages daily across nineteen countries. This network has played 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:55.120 a crucial role in cementing the company's dominance in speedy deliveries. 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.520 It's also made Amazon one of the most extreme examples 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.760 of a phenomenon that has swept through through the American 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.360 workforce in recent decades, in which ground level workers core 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.400 to a given brand, from Google coders to McDonald's cashiers 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:13.200 to Uber drivers are employed on paper by someone else. Increasingly, 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.720 companies get to have their cake while offloading the calories 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:21.160 and messi crumbs. For Amazon, this who's the Boss arrangement 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.279 offers a liability shield against complaints both involving workers auto 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:29.120 accidents and brought by them wage theft. It's also made 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.760 it much simpler for the company to avoid negotiating with 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.640 drivers who want to organize, or at least that was 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.800 the case until it parted ways with battle tested strategies. 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.680 In twenty twenty three, while Amazon was winding down its 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.080 business with the company, Irvin's staff signed up to unionize 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.040 with the teamsters, setting off a year's long legal battle 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.039 to prove that Amazon was legally their boss along with 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.840 Irvin what's known as a joint employer, the eventual goal 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.800 becoming Amazon's first US contract drivers to be deemed its 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.919 employees and the nation's first workers to force the company 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.040 to bargain with them collectively. The driver's odds were always long. 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.360 Four years after employees at an Amazon warehouse in New 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.120 York City voted to organize, no negotiations have taken place, 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.240 and Amazon is asking a federal court to override a 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.120 series of rulings requiring the company to come to the table. 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.839 But until this spring, the Palmdale drivers were making landmark progress. 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:26.960 Even after President Donald Trump was sworn in for a 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.159 second term last year, the US government kept arguing that 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.919 Amazon was the boss of Urvan's workers and that it 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:36.400 was obligated to negotiate with them. Then in April, the 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.479 government moved to end the case on terms favorable to 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.360 Amazon under orders from Trump's newly appointed General Council of 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.160 the National Labor Relations Board, previously an outside attorney for 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:51.200 the company. The NLRB declined to comment on the settlement 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.160 whatever happens next. The trial has gone on long enough 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.480 to open an unprecedented window into the extent of Amazon's 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:03.560 control over its supposed contractors. BusinessWeek used Freedom of Information 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:07.440 Act requests to obtain thousands of pages of confidential company 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.120 records secured by the US government via the case. They 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:15.240 lay bare Amazon's intimate and intensive regulation of workers it 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:20.520 insists aren't its employees, including governing which drivers DSPs can hire, 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.200 when they work, where they drive, what they say, how 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.800 they smell, and much more. Among the new details the 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.039 records reveal are the extent to which Amazon emphasizes that 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.400 drivers are expected to act as ambassadors to its customers, 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.120 the plethora of ways it tracks drivers progress and performance, 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.320 marking in red places where it believes they've lingered too long, 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.520 and showing each DSP owner which of their employees it 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.479 rates the worst. And the scripts and gag rules it 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:51.719 gives DSPs about talking to drivers, customers, vendors, and the public. 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.360 Their control freaks because it's central to their business model, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.400 says David Wyle, the US Department of Labour's head of 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:01.840 Wage and Our Enforcement during the ou Obama administration. If 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:05.839 you are that deeply involved, congratulations, you have responsibility for 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:09.480 the employment relationship, or at least that's how it's supposed 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:12.040 to work under the law, says Wile, who's now a 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:15.880 professor of social policy and economics at Brandeis University. He 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:19.520 says he worries that Amazon's apparent victory in the NLRB case, 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.440 in spite of evidence demonstrating that its control over the 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:26.680 operations of its subcontractors is historically extreme, will open the 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:30.040 door to other companies micromanaging workers to a similar degree, 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.840 even as they abdicate the responsibilities of an employer. It 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.280 will become more and more of a model to the 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.640 extent that companies like Amazon are allowed to create this illusion, 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:45.080 Wile says. Amazon says DSP's independence is very much real. 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.440 The DSP program was founded on the fact that small 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.640 business owners know their community's best, the company said in 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:55.000 its statement. They make decisions about who they hire and 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.360 how they operate their businesses, and our contract standards are 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:02.920 common across the delivery indo. Amazon also denied wrongdoing in 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.040 the NLRB case. We're glad to put it behind us 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.800 so we can focus on supporting our team, our partners, 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:12.960 including delivery service partners, and the communities we collectively serve, 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.160 the company said. At trial, an Amazon attorney argued that 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:21.040 Irvin was behaving like George Costanza, alluding to the Seinfield 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.640 episode in which the character quits his job and then 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.440 tries to go back like it never happened. By the 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:30.240 time Irvin recognized his driver's union, Amazon argued he knew 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.520 his contract was being terminated early, so the organizing effort 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.800 amounted to a poorly veiled revenge plot, one the company 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.880 says never secured legitimate majority support. Irvin and his former 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:45.000 drivers say he just let them choose for themselves. In interviews, 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.160 a dozen drivers who've worked for other DSPs in three 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:53.319 states described them as potemkin businesses that enforce Amazon's extreme rules, 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:57.400 constant surveillance, and grueling quotas that in some urban areas 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:00.840 can reach thirty stops an hour. Once, as her DSP 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.720 manager suggested a funnel she could use to pee into 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.920 a bottle in her van, others say their managers told 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.240 them they must precisely follow any route Amazon software lays 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.679 out for them, even if it makes no sense to 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.959 help the algorithm learn. Amazon says that such characterizations are 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.480 false and the views expressed aren't representative of most DSPs 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.760 or their employees, and that drivers don't have to obey 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.120 its suggestions on the order of their deliveries. As with 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.240 other teaching jobs, the pay isn't great. Last year, Amazon 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.280 announced it would contribute an additional one point nine billion 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.960 dollars that it predicted would help DSPs hike driver's average 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.400 pay to nearly twenty three dollars an hour. In contrast, 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.880 hourly pay for full time teamsters drivers at United Parcel 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:48.720 Service ranges from around twenty three dollars to forty eight dollars. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.960 While the union fights the NLRB settlement, it has continued 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.600 trying to organize other Amazon drivers. It's also pushing for 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:00.600 legislation that would upend Amazon's contracting model. In city councils 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.360 such as New York's, workers say the unionization Irvin cleared 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.120 the way for has boosted their efforts, as have the 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.520 disclosures he's helped bring into the public record about Amazon's 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.320 behavior and controls, but the most important factor, many say 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.600 is the treatment they face day to day. Driver Matt 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:21.000 Multari says Amazon forces him and his colleagues to perform 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.319 with the dexterity of olympians and the stamina of robots. 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.720 Irvin says the rise and fall of his driver's legal 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:31.120 case proves his point. Amazon is really the one at 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.800 the wheel. In his California lawsuit, he's alleging that Amazon 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.960 controlled him and his business so utterly that even he 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.400 should have been classified as an Amazon employee. Owning a 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:45.160 DSP wasn't real entrepreneurship. He says, it was like being 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:48.280 a hapless star trek ensign who got absorbed into the borg. 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:53.680 You're not a partner, Irvin says. Resistance is futile. Irvin 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.520 had always wanted to be his own boss. As a 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.480 teen in Flint, Michigan, where his grandparents raised him. After 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.160 his mom died, he tried and failed to launch a 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.560 mail order delivery business. In nineteen ninety seven, he joined 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.160 the Air Force straight out of high school. He served 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.160 on active duty for a decade before becoming a reservist 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.080 and taking a job with a military contractor which brought 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:18.040 him to Kuwait and Iraq. Then in twenty eighteen, Irvin 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.040 saw an ad from Amazon that he says sounded enticing. 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:25.000 The company was seeking veteran leaders interested in running their 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.520 own business and making as much as three hundred thousand 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:30.880 dollars a year as a DSP. He says he never 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:33.959 managed to make that amount. They recruited me to be 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:38.160 a leader. Irvin says, I was like, Wow, I like Amazon. 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:42.440 They're pretty tip of the spear, battle tested strategies started 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:46.360 delivering to customers in October twenty nineteen. Irvin was an 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:50.440 early star of the DSP program, scoring high ratings, grazing 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:54.560 promotional materials, and recruiting more would be business owners. In 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.760 twenty twenty, citing Irvin's proven leadership, Amazon asked him to 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.160 transfer his operations from Pasadena to a warehouse it was 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.839 opening in Palmdale, an hour north of la We would 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.360 love to have a strong owner like you help us 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.720 launch DAX eight and be a pioneer in creating a 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.280 customer and driver obsessed culture in our new location, an 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.599 Amazon rep told Irvin in an email viewed by BusinessWeek. 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.160 He agreed to take on the challenge, but Irvin says 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.440 he slowly began to realize the program wasn't what it seemed. 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.080 The more he tried acting like a leader, the more 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:31.560 his relationship with Amazon soured. When he suggested the company 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.000 adopt the Air Force's standards for protecting troops from excessive heat, 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:39.160 Amazon ignored him. When he suggested boosting driver's health and 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:43.319 morale by instituting periodic surprise lower quota days, one of 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.120 the Amazon reps he'd been working with rejected the idea 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.560 out of hand. They always hide behind this huge cloud 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.200 of bureaucracy, he says. They would say there's nothing we 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:57.360 can do. In November twenty twenty one, Irvin, who's black, 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.600 filed an internal complaint alleging racial bye b by an 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.000 Amazon manager who he says refused to communicate directly with 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.840 him and had falsely accused him of being aggressive. According 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.880 to Irvin's California lawsuit, the manager claimed he physically cornered her, 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.480 when in fact they'd never been alone together. Irvin says 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.559 Amazon did nothing about his complaint. In its statement, Amazon 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.840 said that it doesn't tolerate discrimination or harassment and that 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:27.400 it thoroughly investigates such misconduct. According to Irvin. One day 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.920 in twenty twenty two, when temperatures reached one hundred and 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:33.800 seven degrees fahrenheit, an Amazon rep complained that his drivers 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:37.360 were falling behind on their delivery quotas. When he responded 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:40.640 that Amazon had failed to apply its own policy easing 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.040 workloads during extreme heat, he says, the rep replied that 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.480 it was too late to change the day's assignments and 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.880 that if some drivers were too sick to perform, he'd 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.240 need to provide written affidavits to prove it. Irvin says 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:54.199 when he told the rep some of the day's cargo 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.480 would just have to wait, the rep threatened him with 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.960 breach of contract. Around the same time, Irvin's employees began 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:05.400 circulating a petition documenting their own workplace grievances, including about 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.440 the quotas, suggesting the sort of collective action that can 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:12.040 turn into a union drive. An Amazon rep called Irvin 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.720 and told him they'd heard his drivers were planning a walkout, 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.280 then referred him to attorneys from Ogletree, Deacons, Nash, Smoke 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.880 and Stuart, a law firm specializing in labour strife whose 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:25.920 costs Amazon was helping DSPs cover. Irvin called a meeting 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.880 with his drivers to discuss their grievances, then told them 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.280 that he would do my best to help, but that 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.440 my hands are sort of tied. He would later testify basically, 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.800 he was just telling us that he's a puppet and 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:41.200 that his strings are being pulled by Amazon. Former employee 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:45.120 rajpal Singh recalled at the NLRB trial. He testified that 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.200 Irvin added, if you guys want changes, you guys can 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.200 form a union. Starting in late twenty twenty two, Amazon 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.640 tagged Irvin's company with a series of alleged breaches of contract, 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.240 including failing to pay vendors on time and letting vehicles 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.280 that should have been out of service stay on the road. 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:04.520 He says that the alleged infractions were based on faulty 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.160 information or caused by Amazon's own mistakes, and that they 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.880 were clearly retaliating against him and his drivers. Around then, 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.360 Irvin says Amazon repeatedly suggested he pull out of his 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:19.840 contract close to a year ahead of schedule. Channeling Charlton Heston, 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.520 he told the company it could take his DSP from 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:27.000 my cold dead hands. In February twenty twenty three, Irvin 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:31.400 received an email from DSP uniform standards at Amazon dot Com, 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.560 saying Amazon would be slashing its per package payment rate 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:38.040 to battle tested strategies because the share of staff obeying 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.440 Amazon's uniform rules had fallen below ninety five percent for 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.880 the prior several weeks. I believe we are being targeted, 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:48.240 Irvin wrote back. What are the standard operating procedures that 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.440 you're using? The Amazon account pointed him back to its 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.040 program policies. When Irvin said the company wasn't following its 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.680 own rules, Amazon didn't budge. I want to speak to 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.200 your boss, Irvin said, and a follow up email on 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:05.240 March fifteenth, You folks are purposefully not listening and causing 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.479 undue stress by not having a proper discussion on this issue. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.080 I'm telling you I'm being targeted and you're not listening. 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.200 Who are you? What is your boss's name and phone number? 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.520 A month later, Amazon told Irvan it was cutting him 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.920 loose effective in June. Within a week of that news, 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.040 Irvin had let Teamster's organizers come speak to his drivers 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:26.240 at the start of their shift and sign them up 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.400 on the property. He then became the first DSP owner 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:32.960 to negotiate and sign a collective bargaining agreement, he says 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.840 he saw no reason not to. In its statement, Amazon 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.720 denied Irvan's account of pushing for heat protections and reduced workloads, 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.360 and said that he violated its safety rules by failing 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:46.480 to maintain air conditioning in his vans. The company said 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.520 it canned battle tested strategies for violations, including using vehicles 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:54.240 with faulty breaks. Safety is our top priority, and when 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.600 there were clear violations to their contractual obligations to maintain 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.600 this standard, we did what any reasonable company would do 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.640 and took action to end their contract well before they 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.840 had engaged with the teamsters. In his California lawsuit, Irvin 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.399 claims he was the one who raised concerns about faulty 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.560 AC in the vehicles, and says Amazon failed to address 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.240 the issue. In September twenty twenty four, Joe Biden's NLRB 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.800 issued a complaint against Amazon, arguing that the company wielded 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.520 enough control over Irvin's drivers to be legally considered their boss, 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.480 and that it was therefore obligated to collectively bargain with 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.560 them once he recognized their union. The landmark federal complaint 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.800 also accused Amazon of illegally threatening coercing and retaliating against 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.880 drivers during the months between their organizing and the dissolution 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.680 of battle tested strategies, including by singling out their warehouse 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.919 for stricter inspections, delaying their deliveries, and deploying security guards 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:50.080 to the property, something it hadn't bothered to do. Driver 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:53.119 Michael Live would later testify when someone was stealing the 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:57.600 catalytic converters from their vehicles. A week after Inauguration Day 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.960 twenty twenty five, when Jeff Bezos said, stage left of 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.840 Tim Cook and Elon Musk and in front of incoming 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:09.200 Cabinet members, President Trump fired the NLRB General Council Jennifer Abruzzo, 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.359 who'd brought the case alleging Amazon was a joint employer. 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:16.639 In a letter BusinessWeek obtained via FOYA, Trump told Abruso 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.280 and another terminated top appointee he was concerned about their 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.280 disfavoring the interests of employers large and small, and he 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:28.679 specifically cited their position on joint employment. To replace Abruso 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.359 on an acting basis, Trump tapped William Cowan, who'd served 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.280 as an NLRB member under President George W. Bush. With 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.600 Cowen in charge, the agency, abandoned a slew of claims 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:44.160 Abruzzo had been prosecuting, including against Apple and SpaceX. Both 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.960 companies have denied wrongdoing in those matters, but Cowen forged 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.880 ahead with some of her initiatives, including the case about 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:54.880 Irvin's DSP. In an interview with BusinessWeek late last year, 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.520 he said companies that want to limit their liability have 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.600 a simple solution. If an employer wanted wants to avoid 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.440 being a joint employer, stop sticking your nose in another 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:07.600 employer's business. The Palmdale case, he said, presented a huge 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:11.440 question both for the teamsters and for Amazon. Over the years, 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.240 he said, other companies have changed their business models to 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.400 directly employ workers once the government determined they'd be held 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:21.080 liable for their treatment. Regardless, people on all sides of 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:23.919 the dispute should want to see the case proceed so 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:26.960 the question of Amazon's responsibility can get a clear answer. 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.280 Cowen argued. It is a big issue, and it has 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:33.680 implications all over the country. And if I, for example, 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:37.280 were to say, Okay, well I'm not prosecuting that, I'm 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:40.919 not buying into that theory, that doesn't really get anything resolved. 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:44.639 Amazon opened the labor Board trial by telling the judge 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:48.440 it was refusing to comply with the government's subpoenas. Amazon 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:50.800 is not willing to participate in the misuse of the 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:55.240 NLRB's processes, attorney Brian Stolsenbach said at the hearing in 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.960 Los Angeles last September, accusing Cowen's team of subjecting the 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.480 company to a fish expedition in service of a broader agenda. 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:06.200 Amazon announced it wouldn't share the documents the NLRB was 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:08.880 seeking to help establish whether it was a joint employer 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:13.320 of Irvins Drivers, But with Irvin's cooperation, plenty of evidence 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:17.639 came out. Anyway, We'll be right back with what Trump 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:25.520 delivered for Amazon. Welcome back to what Trump delivered for Amazon. 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.120 A twenty twenty three version of Amazon's DSP contract entered 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:33.840 into evidence showed that the company requires its supposedly independent 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:37.600 contractors to adhere not only to Amazon's program policies at 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.600 the time, but also to whatever future ones the company 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:44.240 unilaterally imposes, which would then become a part of your 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.080 company's contract with Amazon, as if they were written in 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:51.040 their entirety in this agreement. Similar provisions are in an 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:53.919 earlier version of the contract that Bloomberg News reported on 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:58.320 back in twenty twenty one. Amazon also dictates which vendors 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:02.360 DSPs can use for every from oil changes to tire rotations, 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:05.439 as well as when and how vendors can be contacted. 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:09.160 According to the records released in the case, Amazon assigns 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.159 which packages drivers deliver and the roots they drive to 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:15.320 do it, and instructs DSPs to tell drivers to trust 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.879 your delivery route even if it may seem circular, because 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:22.840 each is designed to minimize inefficient maneuvers such as left turns, 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:26.360 and it knows how those roots are going. Because DSPs 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:29.240 must give Amazon access to a vast array of data, 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:32.440 including the live locations of their drivers, which it can 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:37.359 use without restriction, Amazon requires that DSPs make drivers sign 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.920 non disclosure agreements, submit to arbitration in the event of 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:43.960 a dispute, and take drug tests when an Amazon rep 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.560 deems appropriate on the job. Drivers, each of whom the 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:51.399 retailer said represents Amazon to our customers, are required to 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:55.119 wear Amazon polos and Amazon pants are shorts, with the 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.359 options of an Amazon hat never to be worn backward, 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:02.439 and an Amazon coat. Amazon also requires that drivers be 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:06.960 neat and clean, including prevention of unpleasant breath or body odor, 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:12.160 modest perfume, cologne, and clean teeth, face, ears, fingernails, and hair. 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.160 If Amazon isn't satisfied with a particular driver, it can 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:21.000 deactivate them unilaterally, terminating their authorization to deliver its packages. 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:25.680 The documents disgorged by the Battle Tested Strategies case also 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.600 suggest why that might happen. According to company records released 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:32.639 in the legal case and then obtained by BusinessWeek via Foya, 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:36.840 Amazon systems use bright yellow, orange, or red to mark 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.080 areas where a driver has spent excessive amounts of time. 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:45.119 Amazon also formulates performance rankings of DSP drivers and creates 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:48.960 leaderboards for each DSP owner, ranking each of their staff. 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:52.280 When things go awry, drivers are supposed to call a 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:56.840 support hotline staffed by Amazon, not their DSP. A DSP 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.960 must immediately notify Amazon following any net negative interactions with 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.720 customers or the general public, or any other occurrences that 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:07.800 may impact customer trust of your company or of Amazon. 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:11.760 If property is damaged, the DSP is barred from further 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:14.639 contact with the property owner after letting the owner know 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:18.960 what happened. PERA twenty twenty two Operations Manual, revealed in 0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:22.159 the case, Amazon told DSP owners to be careful what 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:25.560 they call their company because Amazon may require you to 0:23:25.680 --> 0:23:28.439 change any name it finds offensive or too close to 0:23:28.480 --> 0:23:32.280 its own lingo, for instance, using the word smile, And 0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:35.479 along with providing talking points for DSP owners to use 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:38.400 at morning meetings with drivers, it directs them to save 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.600 time during those huddles for any presentations Amazon wants to 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:45.320 make directly to their staff. The newly revealed documents show 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:48.720