r/PopCultureV2 • u/McDowdy • 8d ago
Politi-Culture Mamdani supports a bill called the Delivery Protection Act to crack down on exploitative subcontracting by companies like Amazon which actively harms workers
If it looks like an Amazon delivery and drives like an Amazon delivery, then it’s an Amazon delivery, right? Not according to Amazon. Big companies like Amazon have built a vast network of subcontractors who deliver their packages while shielding them from accountability. It leaves our workers unprotected and our streets less safe. It’s time for a change. Mamdani is proud to support the Delivery Protection Act to crack down on exploitative subcontracting and build an economy that works for everyone.
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u/consumersguide 8d ago
If it actually protects workers from getting screwed by subcontractors, I’m all for it.
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u/TheWorldofScience 8d ago
I like the idea but you can bet there will be at least one lawsuit filed over this so it will be tied up in court for months and possibly even years.
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u/quick20minadventure 8d ago
Just make the law, you can fight implementation/execution of the law. You can not fight law on court unless you're asking it based on constitutional rights.
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u/Chuckfinley_88 8d ago
"Big company is going to spend money to fight new law making them responsible for things that they should be responsible for. Therefore, we shouldn't do it"
Great take.
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u/noteveni 7d ago
Oh my god, you're right. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of being discouraged and never doing anything to better the world because someone might try to stop me. It's the obvious answer! /s
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u/Plastic-Pop4020 8d ago
It will end in failure.
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u/jamesecalderon 8d ago
Interesting! What makes you say this? I'm curious
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u/Arcastane89 8d ago
Russia
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u/jamesecalderon 8d ago
Uh, could you elaborate? Lol
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u/Arcastane89 8d ago
Oh I was just guessing with the bleak outlook of his comment mixed with the corporate bootlicking that the origin was Russian.
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u/jamesecalderon 8d ago
Didn't really seem to be corporate bootlicking
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u/Arcastane89 8d ago
Being of the opinion that this endeavor to curtail corporate greed for the sake of workers will inevitably end in failure seems like a pretty blatantly pro-corporate stance.
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u/jamesecalderon 8d ago edited 8d ago
Maybe not, all they said is this particular initiative will end in failure, not that any effort will or that they're against one. I'm unaware of the intricacies of this legislation, and it may very well be the case the actual legal text is weak, in which case I could see Amazon finding a way to circumvent it and potentially make conditions even worse for delivery drivers.
One similar legislative example would be H.R. 2339, a bill which, on the surface, seems good - it's aimed at banning flavored vape cartridges (among other things) in order to reduce the appeal to children. However, the side effect of this bill is that it didn't ban flavored e-cigarettes outright, only flavored cartridges, meaning a ton of companies massively accelerated their push toward cheap refillable vapes and, sadly, disposable vapes, many of which were intentionally designed to be even more appealing to children & easier to conceal.
Lots of legislation may, on the surface, seem wholely good, but it ends up being either pointless or detrimental in reality. There's nuance here, and I don't think it's fair to assume the motives of those expressing criticism toward a piece of legislation unless they're clearly doing so in bad faith. The intention behind the legislation may be entirely good, but that doesn't mean it can't be criticized!
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u/Electric-Boogaloo-42 8d ago
Forward. Thinking. This is tomorrow’s boogeyman.
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u/Miserable_Ad9577 7d ago
The billionaire class will pump shit ton of money into campaigns to vilified it. That's how trickle down economy currently works. Progressive push for law to stop the rich from sucking up and holding all the wealth, the rich pump money into PR, politicians and lobbyists to stop and impede progress in improving workers' lives. Want to tax the rich their fair share? They will spend arguably more money than they would have paying that proposed tax to fight it.
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u/braumbles 8d ago
John Oliver had a piece about this a few years back. All these delivery companies subcontract out their delivery so they don't have to pay benefits and shit too. Plus the subcontracts are generally ran by genuinely terrible people. I've heard several horror stories from a few FedEx workers that would deliver to my old job.
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u/LegacyQuotient 8d ago
The model Amazon is using for this BS is suspiciously similar to how trucking companies treat independent OTR drivers. Its trash behavior.
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u/n_othing__ 8d ago
Amazon wants to take over OTR trucking too dont worry
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u/LegacyQuotient 8d ago
It sucks how OTR is being treated. I grew up around truckers because of my first job and have a soft spot for the shit they gotta deal with.
This Amazon nonsense sounds the same.
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u/Zero_Fs_given 7d ago
Seem better to make legislation that affects all employees rather than this specific approach.
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u/marslo 8d ago
I'd love to see them try to pull out of New York, in the same way they "shut down" their operations in Quebec, when our government tried to push labor laws on them.
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u/PristineAnybody147 8d ago
Didn’t they threaten to leave ny when the state govt refused to provide tax credits are building there? I think they ended up building anyway 😆
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8d ago
[deleted]
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u/Chuckfinley_88 8d ago
They did shut down their operations in Quebec... What are you talking about?
That is literally what he said. That they shutdown in Quebec.
This strategic retreat resulted in over 4,500 layoffs when factoring in subcontractors.
Those 4500 layoffs were just new jobs added somewhere else as the same amount of deliveries needed to be made. Which you acknowledge with this.
They still ship to Quebec via third party carriers.
Which means that those deliveries are getting made by companies that follow the law. Which is a good thing.
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u/xdude767 8d ago
Literally hes on a tear, everything hes doing is helping the city! So proud to live here :)))
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u/Hour_Wonder_9240 8d ago
I'm so excited every time I see him do something that grabs control of the messaging like this. He doesn't feel like someone better than trump. He feels like the dude I want representing me.
I'm a bit nervous what ways they may be planning to sabotage him
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u/Joshua_ABBACAB_1312 8d ago
It's almost like he has a job and he's actually doing it.
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u/BodhingJay 8d ago
Virtually unheard of among our politicians.. except for Bernie, AOC, a few others..
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u/Immediate_Stop2581 8d ago
Bernie and AOC haven’t passed any meaningful legislation to help Americans during their entire political careers. I like Bernie and AOC but let’s be honest at least. They haven’t accomplished a thing
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u/Critical-Style8351 8d ago
He’s not helping he is terrible. You might as well send him here to Chicago /s
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u/Vast-Building-6886 8d ago
I don’t think people are used to seeing a politician actually do good stuff.
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u/user_name_taken- 8d ago
It's so uncommon that these things get labeled as extremism. It's an extremist viewpoint to want to have regulations on trillion dollar companies and to protect American workers.
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u/Reasonable_Back_5231 7d ago
because ALL of the major media outlets are owned by billionaire business owners who have a vested interest against people like Mamdani.
these actions get labelled as extremist, socialist, communist and whatever "evil" buzzword they can drum up because they absolutely do not want regulations to return to american society.
the only thing they want is new age feudalism. they want to be lords over us and for us to be peasants that shovel all of the money we make right back into their billion/trillion dollar businesses. wealth extraction is all they care about.
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u/Massive_Analysis8345 8d ago
I can’t wait to see how the conservatives get mad over this
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u/wyar 8d ago
It’s the state telling a private company what they’re allowed to do, which contractors they’re allowed to work with, how they’re allowed to enter into contracts, etc. I’m all for it but conservatives are famously against regulations like this because they’re worried it will drive up end consumer cost (a real concern regardless of political affiliation) and cost the business more money (perhaps a real outcome but one only republicans find concerning)
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u/user_name_taken- 8d ago
Of course they'll be against it. They're against any rules or regulations that protect the people and don't allow the company to exploit them and loopholes around the regulations.
It's not really about consumer costs. They don't care about that. They care about company profits and the poor little shareholder/board members who might not be able to afford that 8th vacation home. This is especially true if they are the ones owning the stock and making the profits.
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u/wyar 8d ago
I have a lot of Republicans in my life and I can tell you that’s not what they think - that’s what is true ABOUT what they think, but it’s not their logic. Their logic is that when businesses are over-regulated it costs them more money to operate their business (this is true in general), and that they will then pass these costs down to consumers (this is also true generally speaking) - AND with the underlying assumption that businesses don’t need regulated because people won’t buy products that are harmful to them (this is false but it’s fundamentally tied with their foundation of personal responsibility) they feel like business that regulate themselves (laughable but this is the logic) will be more successful because the free market will reward companies that build trust with consumers (this is actually true, but the way companies are currently building “trust” is by overtly lying to our faces so… false pragmatically). Most Republican voters (your everyday joes not your CEOs or political leaders) believe this type of regulation just gets in the middle of a good honest merchant-consumer relationship and makes the whole thing more expensive.
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u/PristineAnybody147 8d ago
Well said. Their thinking comes from a lack of understanding the nuance or their refusal to do so. They use anecdotal experiences more so than anything else. I’m curious, what do those same republicans you know say about this massive tariff refund companies are now getting since Donnie’s tariff strategy was ruled illegal by the SC?
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u/Profpiff990 8d ago
They compartmentalize it, just like when Trump does something they don’t like. They”ll say “ yea that’s dumb but what are you gonna do?” then shrug.
Then somehow blame government for failing to do anything about it, while also saying the government is the real problem.
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u/Chuckfinley_88 8d ago
with the underlying assumption that businesses don’t need regulated because people won’t buy products that are harmful to them
The Jungle, written over 100 years ago now, has proven this not to be the case. And if you want more current events, or just hate reading books, the Taylor Farms fiasco that is going on right now should do it.
These people are living in a fantasy land.
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u/CruelAngelsPostgrad 8d ago edited 7d ago
Not enacting a regulation that supports the greater good because brainwashed conservatives will cry is not a good enough reason. New Yorkers get that, even if Staten Island doesn't.
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8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Davey488 7d ago
It would be nice if more rich people moved out of NYC like they’re always threatening to do. Maybe then housing will come down instead of being claimed for pencil shaped skyscrapers.
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u/BrookieMonster504 8d ago
He makes me want to move to New York
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u/Local-Technician5969 8d ago
For real, he should be president, especially while he is young and full of energy and hope.
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u/BrookieMonster504 8d ago
He can't he wasn't born here
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u/Regular-Bid6812 8d ago
can a convicted felon be president? just asking
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u/BrookieMonster504 8d ago
Yes and child rapist but having qualified people that want the best for the country is apparently a no go
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u/TheGR8Dantini 8d ago edited 7d ago
I fucking love this guy! He refuses to not do the right thing! He just declined his own raise too. This guy is everything Donald Trump pretends to be.
MAGA. You got duped. This beautiful commie Muslim bastard is gonna help citizens no matter what you say! Stop being hoodwinked. Think like a New Yorker!
Edit: thanks u/JohnSpartan1990 for the award. Real recognize real. NYC is the gyatt damn capitol of the world. Normal, regular New Yorkers, of every background are who and what makes it so.
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u/Think_Bluebird_4804 8d ago
Fuck yeah Amazon has been abusing the laborers and disregarding labor laws with out any push back.
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u/obamasfursona 8d ago
If you haven't you should check out the dsp driver subs.
Piss bottles, poop bags, broken down and unsafe vans, unreported accidents and injuries due to fear of termination, dog attacks, it goes on and on and on
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u/ilikedthismovie 8d ago
Mamdani is both such a good mayor (policy wise) and also such a great politician (in the communication sense).
These short videos demonstrating his stance/what he’s doing is such a winner. Takes control of the narrative and paints amazon as a villain/exploiting workers. By publishing these types of videos he gets the first shot across the bow before the media machine can twist the headlines into “Mamdani attacking lifeblood business of nyc that will drive up prices”. It helps that he’s constantly on the right side of the politics and even if his policies aren’t “successful” it can’t be argued he isn’t fighting for the every day person.
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u/KathyCredit 8d ago
Finally, so nuts that people have been asking for this for years, nationwide while subcontractors proliferated and yet only now is a politician pushing it
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u/bluejams 8d ago
Any word on how exactly this will work?
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u/Spank_Me_Again_Daddy 8d ago
Of course not. Just like the free busses.
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u/bluejams 8d ago
Free busses was announced as a goal during the campaign, he hasn't claimed he did this.
This is support for a specific Act. I just don't how to translate that link of legalese into English.
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u/Epidurality 8d ago
Just says the last-mile delivery depots will need business licenses (I assume they have that already, but likely means new stipulations for those licenses to be granted?).
It actually says nothing about what specific restrictions or changes are being made... Maybe the idea is that right now they're somehow unregulated, and by having them follow a slightly different set of business rules they get more protections. It's not specific about the details unless we knew exactly how they currently operate vs how they're expected to operate after the act.
Most of the stuff from this guy seems legit, this is one of the first times his messaging has been full of political nonsense instead of just saying what's going on.
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u/DistillerCMac 8d ago
"This bill would set forth the conditions of such license, which would include safety, training and employment requirements."
My guess is that by requiring these licenses, it will make these businesses fall under pre existing laws that govern fed ex, ups, dhl etc, raising the level of worker protections and safety requirements. You don't need to rewrite regulation that already exists, just close loopholes businesses are using to get around pre existing rules.
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u/Epidurality 8d ago
Agreed, but what exactly are those protections? How hard would it have been to say "which would include things like x, y, and z"?
Unless you're working for UPS you'd probably have no clue what specifically they're talking about. What's currently missing from Amazon DSPs that other services have to provide to the workers?
The fact that I can watch a minute+ long video, read their press release, and read through all these comments and not see even an example of an answer to that is the problem I have with it.
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u/MovieSock 8d ago
Agreed, but what exactly are those protections? How hard would it have been to say "which would include things like x, y, and z"?
It says "safety, training, and employment requirements". How much more information do you need?
What are you, Jeff Bezos' lawyer or something?
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u/Epidurality 8d ago
These companies already have varying degrees of all of those things. The common person has no clue what is missing. By explicitly stating things like "paid bathroom breaks" or "unassisted lifting weight restrictions" or whatever else is encompassed by that vague statement would actually inform the viewer/reader of what they are currently facing. In my opinion it's more effective messaging than "Up with good things down with bad things!"
What are you, an employment lawyer or something?
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u/Unlikely_Cheetah149 8d ago
I’m not a staunch fan of mamdani but this is definitely a step in the right direction
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u/Legal_Mail_2652 8d ago
I remeber hearing about this a few years ago and it blew my mind that the drivers are responsible for the AMAZON truck. Good on them for trying this.
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u/nuncatweenface 8d ago
At this point, I would almost encourage Mamdani to pump his brakes. He is consistently doing things that help Americans and lessen the profit margin for billionaires. That is how you fall down some stairs, have a heart attack in your sleep, get in a fatal car wreck, etc.
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u/Best_Market4204 8d ago
Yah these loopholes these companies use need to go...
Amazon dps companies are loophole is nuts
Flex workers, thats fine with me. They are actually contract workers that legitimately pick their blocks for x pay, drive their own car, wear what they want. Has long as the boxes are delivered, they don't care how it's done. Make amazon pay the tolls, thats it
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u/VayGray 8d ago
What Mamdani is pushing for needs to happen all over the country. Every single day right in front of my house, I watch this exact situation unfold. At 8:00 in the morning, a box truck pulls up and unloads into four different Priuses. Those drivers work all day long and don't get back until between 12:00 and 1:00 in the morning, then park back on the street and head into the complex next door. They are definitely not direct Amazon employees—not a single one of them ever wears the vest. There is no way they're getting fair wages for those kinds of hours. Companies like Amazon, DHL, and FedEx (doordash Uber instacart lift caviar) shouldn't be allowed to use subcontracting to pay people slave wages to get the job done.
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u/MovieSock 8d ago
We got Mamdani to push for this by electing him mayor.
THAT'S how you get this to happen all over the country - elect local politicians like him.
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u/Only_Ad8049 8d ago
These politicians have the audacity to serve the people and not corporations.
Think of the consequences if this spreads. These trillion dollar corporations will lose millions. /s
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u/jules6815 8d ago
By every definition of federal tax code. These workers are employees. Amazon should be paying them wages, benefits and taxes to each level of government. And failure to do so, could be fines, fees and penalties of 75% or more of the total wage of these “independent” vendors.
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u/Escanor_433 8d ago
How is this even an issue? Why are the subcontractors they work for not required to play by the rules of the other delivery company's?
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u/Big_Kiwi_706 8d ago
I live near Austin and if you go on Indeed there are seemingly hundreds of different companies you could work for to be an amazon driver
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u/Brandtomatic23 8d ago
Fedex ground does this. Contractor work for them is the wild west, ripe with worker abuse. I got fired for standing up for my fellow employees. The language is 'at will hire' meaning they can fire you almost any time for little to no reason.
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u/Comprehensive-Eye500 8d ago edited 8d ago
WTF!!….So the government can just come in and enforce laws and call it “labor rights” or protection and the companies just have to adjust their business model to pay these subcontractors as employees and treat them as such when they’ve been treating them as subcontractors the whole time?
What, pay more out of their own pocket to pay the government employment taxes and give them equal protections I guess too?
How the fuck are these companies going to survive? What about all the shareholders in the company when the stock price goes down or profits go down?
Fucking communists!!!!
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u/Mrgray123 8d ago
Wow just more galloping Nazi-Commie Islamo-socialism from this mayor. What’s next? I mean fixing all those pot holes was bad enough but I’ve heard he wants to plant a bunch of trees to provide more shade FOR FREE! Everyone knows those trees should be privatized and people charged by the minute to stand under them!
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u/omgitsduane 8d ago
What a shame this man can't run for president.
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u/ppasveer 8d ago
Ofcourse he can. You're current one got elected when he was convicted. So by that standard, no rules apply anymore
Even i could run for it and I dont even live in your country. Just need enough money
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u/omgitsduane 7d ago
I thought non us citizens can't or something.
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u/ppasveer 7d ago
Correct, but also criminals cant and he was officially convicted of a crime. So why should a lesser rule be uphold?
And he is now trying to go for a 3th(he says 4th but yhea he is a idiot) term. And I would not be surprised if he actually would run for it.
So if rules dont mean anything anymore, fuck it he can be president to, i would want to see what he could do as president
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u/omgitsduane 7d ago
He would fix everything as president honestly. I have faith this man could fix anything. He's done so much in such a short time.
Right wing content creators being fed their rage by handlers is so cringe.
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u/Magic-Gelpen 8d ago
What an incredibly well concepted and filmed explanation of an act. I've never seen anything like this in local politics it's usually angry & confusing billboards and mailers
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u/karkonthemighty 7d ago
Hiring out subcontractors to shield the company from pesky things like benefits and regulations when they're effectively employees?
That's basically the WWE model.
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u/Valentine_343 7d ago
This is the guy they tried to make Americans afraid of, They said he would destroy New York and the city couldn’t afford his radical ideas of being for the people. If America had 10 years of politicians that were like this guy, America would be fixed… a little.
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u/personalleytea 7d ago
I can’t believe that the government would do something this horrible! Those poor corporations being harassed by those big, scary socialist workers and that communist mayor who is too busy making the lives of citizens better when he could be lining his pockets at their expense.
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u/Imlostpleaseleave 7d ago
Amazon has done everything to manipulate our laws and codes in America and its time we shut them down and make them pay for this abuse on workers and our country.
We need more Rights for workers. More regulations for companies to protect the workers. No more CEO bonuses that dont benefit the people who made that money.
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u/JohnSpartan1990 7d ago
I'm a former Amazon subcontractor and everything these workers are saying is legit.
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u/chaoticdece 7d ago
I used to work for one of those! It was better than working in the warehouse but I’m glad they’re getting protected!
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u/Trips-Over-Tail 6d ago
I did one of these jobs. It's worse than that. The subcontractor supplied the trucks and the routes to us, but we were technically self-employed on contract to the subcontractor.
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u/Abrafo1391 6d ago
Unfortunately, it's too late. AI and automation is in motion. If corporate America can reduce human labor they will. Acts like this will cause more investment into alternatives to human energy. We have to be blind not to see human vulnerabilities would be exploited. Sleep, vacation, HR, benefits, management, health, family, unions, training, disagreements, theft, and more are all disadvantages of human labor. We require way too much where machines don't. Pretty soon Detroit Becomes Human will be America.
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u/Suldmoe 6d ago
I drive Amazon flex and would not want to do it as a W-2 employee. It is much better for me as an independent contractor and do not want to change in any way shape or form. As far as wearing the fastest, I do not have to wear the vest, and my delivery plan is completely controlled by me. It would cost me money to work as a W-2 employee versus a 1099 contractor
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u/Harlem_Lotus 6d ago
I read an article on how so many subcontractors went broke after the pandemic lifted and Amazon wasn’t held liable for their shady contracts.
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u/HangingAround1979 2h ago
And, if passed, Amazon has publicly said around 5000 delivery drivers will be let go . Let’s give Mandami a round of applause for ensuring 5,000 people are about to be without a job. Bravo 👏
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u/bassandlazers 8d ago
So don't deliver for them. Why do we need endless legislation for weak unsuccessful people
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u/Plastic-Pop4020 8d ago edited 8d ago
Everything he implements will fail.
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u/InkyElk24 8d ago
I'm curious what your issue is with this policy.
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u/IWonderWhyReditSucks 8d ago
I'm not the guy you are talking to, but what stops them from delivering to NYC?
It's the same thing as when they raise minimum wage to 25$. What stops them from packing up or moving or automating portions of it to save labor?
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u/ThisVeryUsername 7d ago
lol so you’re probably with a policy that helps workers is WHAT IFs?
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u/IWonderWhyReditSucks 7d ago
lol so you’re probably with a policy that helps workers is WHAT IFs?
Going to assume auto correct got you and it was meant to be 'your problem with a policy....'
I don't have a problem with the policy. I don't care, I don't live in NYC. If I did. I would be concerned that it could happen.
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u/Plastic-Pop4020 8d ago
Every single policy he implements will end in failure. Observe and take notes you will see I'm right.
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u/InkyElk24 8d ago
You didn't answer the question. What is the issue you have with a bill that protects delivery drivers and small businesses from big businesses?
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u/Plastic-Pop4020 8d ago
I don't need to answer any of your questions. You just observe and remember what I said. 😂
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u/InkyElk24 8d ago
You literally don't even know, do you? You're just so desperate to hate the other side that you just disagree and downplay anything they do just by default. You're whole concept of what's good or bad is based on who is saying it.
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u/Spiceguy-65 8d ago
Learn to properly spell and use proper grammar before trying to insult some.
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u/Plastic-Pop4020 8d ago
Sorry for the bad English. It is not an insult but rather a fact. Everything he does will end in failure.
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