Amazon contractors clash with Teamsters at raucous NYC Council hearing on controversial delivery legislation

Amazon delivery workers and Teamsters shouted and booed each other Thursday at a raucous New York City Council hearing on a proposed bill that critics say could lead to thousands of lost jobs and much higher delivery bills.The controversial Delivery Protection Act — which could force Amazon to employ its own delivery workers, putting scores of small companies that handle last-mile deliveries for Amazon out of business — drew hundreds on both sides of the issue to the marathon hearing.The bill would require companies like Amazon, FedEx, DHL, FreshDirect and other businesses that operate distribution centers and deliver packages to consumers to be licensed by the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.It would also require those companies to directly employ their own delivery workers instead of hiring subcontractors.“Licensing is a red herring,” said Randy Peers, chief executive of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

“This comes down to a direct-hire mandate and the reality is that people will lose their jobs.”As reported by The Post, the bill from far-left Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán could increase New Yorkers’ yearly delivery bills by $664, according to a draft of a study by consultancy AKRF.Amazon subcontractors and their employees, along with the heads of local chambers of commerce, on Thursday rejected allegations that delivery workers have been operating in unsafe conditions, including accusations that they drive broken vans and trucks and are tasked with aggressive quotas that require them to speed.“The people this bill is trying to protect are the first ones who will lose,” said Andrew Setlight, the owner of last-mile delivery company LBA Logistics.Amazon accounts for one third of the last-mile delivery industry in the Big Apple, according to testimony at the hearing.“What hangs in the balance is not just a business model – it’s the future of hard working New Yorkers, many of them immigrants, striving to achieve their vers...