Regular readers will recall that we’ve followed the cases against Bezos and Amazon, to force Amazon to be responsible for the putatively “independent contractor” drivers it uses, mostly through much much smaller local outfits, to avoid being unionized, nation-wide — and to insulate it from NLRB charges of unfair labor practices.
It is increasingly clear that all Bezos is ultimately going to be able do here is… delay. The evidence is piling up, in courtrooms around the nation, that these supposedly independent “contractor” companies have zero power to set terms with what would be their “own” putative drivers that would differ, in even an insignificant detail, with what Amazon dictates, as the 800 lbs. gorilla. That makes Amazon… the effective employer, directly — of those drivers. This case, detailed below, is illustrative of all that — and is one where the former US Marines owner of the contract firm tried to do the right thing by respecting a vote to unionize his shop, only to see Amazon crush his whole company.
Here is The American Prospect — on it all, while I was off-grid:
…Until the shutdown, their lawyers were arguing that case before a Los Angeles–based administrative judge. Two weeks ago, I sat in for a day in Judge Rebekah Ramirez’s courtroom to listen to the case. On that day, Ervin was on the stand, testifying in response to questions posed to him by NLRB attorney Sanam Yasseri. . . .
Yasseri’s line of questioning was straightforward. She simply asked Ervin whether he had received specific documents from Amazon, and whether he’d put the directives in those documents into effect. These documents covered every conceivable aspect of employer-employee relations: what he must do if an employee was late for work, what Amazon documents he must tell his drivers to consult if they encountered a wide range of difficulties, what circumstances required him to give a bonus to a driver and how much that bonus should be, and so on.
Ervin would respond that he remembered receiving the specific documents, and that he’d complied with them. At times, Yasseri asked him if he had played any role, or had the option of playing any role, in formulating those documents. Ervin responded that he hadn’t; they were all entirely Amazon’s creations….
The evidence, in short, was completely devastating to Amazon’s claim that it’s not a joint employer for its delivery service partners. The directives Amazon imposed on BTS’s employees made clear that a driver all but has to get an OK from Amazon’s home office if he wants to blow his nose. I profess no legal expertise, but it’s clear to me that there’s no way Amazon can wriggle out of joint-employer status once this case is decided….
So it is, that one such contractor, Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS, above), owned by Johnathon Ervin, a former Marine who had no problems when his 84 drivers voted to join the Teamsters; he recognized the union as their bargaining agent and agreed upon a contract. Amazon’s response was not only to refuse to certify the bargaining agreement, which included raises for the drivers, but also to sever its contract with BTS, lest Amazon be identified as the drivers’ joint employer. That led to the above suit. What a putz that Bezos is. Out.
नमस्ते
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