WASHINGTON–U.S Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday held a press conference with Amazon Teamsters, as well as U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), to announce a new effort calling out Amazon for its mistreatment of drivers in the company’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program. In a bipartisan letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Murphy and 28 senators requested information about the DSP program, including Amazon’s justification for refusing to bargain with union representatives of DSP employees and requiring DPSs to sign non-poaching agreements.

“All throughout the holiday season, houses, apartment buildings all across the country were visited by Amazon delivery trucks. Out of those Amazon delivery trucks came friendly men and women dressed in Amazon uniforms, delivering Amazon packages. But what you likely didn't know is that those delivery drivers who were so essential to your holiday season working out don't work for Amazon. They're wearing an Amazon uniform, they're delivering an Amazon package, they're walking out of an Amazon branded vehicle, but they don't work for Amazon. And that is intentional. Because Amazon doesn't want to have responsibility for the often abysmal wages and working conditions that these drivers are laboring under every single day,” Murphy said.

Murphy highlighted the drivers’ working conditions: “Drivers have been forced to endure terrible working conditions, including 12-hour shifts with no brakes working in extreme heat, working through hazardous conditions, working without proper safety measures. And the results unfortunately speak for themselves. Delivery drivers working for these companies have an injury and accident rate of 20%. That is a stunning number. If you were applying for a job, and you were told that there was a 20% chance that by showing up for work, you are going to become injured so badly that you couldn't continue you wouldn't take that job. We don't accept that anywhere in our economy today.”

Murphy continued: “Instead of outsourcing that responsibility. They need to take joint responsibility, either making these drivers employees of Amazon, or entering into new agreements with the subcontractors so that Amazon has direct responsibility for those working conditions.”

On Amazon’s response to one DSP’s efforts to unionize, Murphy said: “Amazon had a pretty simple message for them. If you stand up for yourself, you're never working for Amazon. As soon as those workers began to organize, Amazon began to cut back on the routes that it gave to that company, ultimately terminating their contract. And let's be clear, that message was heard by every other company that works for Amazon. It was likely unfortunately heard by many other workers, that if you are a delivery driver that stands up for yourself, that demands better working conditions, Amazon doesn't want anything to do with you. There will be consequences for you, for the company that you work for. That’s unacceptable.”

On the growing bipartisan coalition to support workers, Murphy said: “I'm really glad to say that this is a bipartisan letter. There are Republicans and Democrats in the Senate that have signed on to make these demands and to ask these questions, and I think it is a sign that there is a growing bipartisan coalition in the United States Senate to make sure that workers are not continually abused by these kind of corporate tactics.”

A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:

“Good morning, everyone. My name is Chris Murphy, I have the honor of representing Connecticut in the United States Senate. I'm here with two of my fantastic colleagues, Senator Warren, Senator Blumenthal, along with a group of really important workers and advocates who are joining us today to deliver a simple message to Amazon: that it's time for Amazon to do the right thing and take responsibility for the work conditions of some of its most important employees.

“All throughout the holiday season, houses, apartment buildings all across the country were visited by Amazon delivery trucks. Out of those Amazon delivery trucks came friendly men and women dressed in Amazon uniforms, delivering Amazon packages.

“But what you likely didn't know is that those delivery drivers who were so essential to your holiday season working out don't work for Amazon. They're wearing an Amazon uniform, they're delivering an Amazon package, they're walking out of an Amazon branded vehicle, but they don't work for Amazon.

“And that is intentional. Because Amazon doesn't want to have responsibility for the often abysmal wages and working conditions that these drivers are laboring under every single day.

“And so we're here today to talk about the real life of Amazon delivery drivers. Why, as consumers, you shouldn't accept what is going on today when it comes to how Amazon treats these delivery drivers, and why it needs to change.

“So here's the reality. These drivers work for a myriad of independent companies all across the country, and Amazon contracts with those companies in order to get these packages delivered. Even though they look like Amazon employees, they are not Amazon employees.

“But Amazon pays these companies so little, that the conditions that these drivers often work under are unconscionable. Drivers have been forced to endure terrible working conditions, including 12-hour shifts with no breaks working in extreme heat, working through hazardous conditions, working without proper safety measures. And the results, unfortunately, speak for themselves.

“Delivery drivers working for these companies have an injury and accident rate of 20%. That is a stunning number. If you were applying for a job, and you were told that there was a 20% chance that by showing up for work, you are going to become injured so badly that you couldn't continue, you wouldn't take that job. We don't accept that anywhere in our economy today.

“But for Amazon delivery drivers, because of the conditions they work under, there is a 20% injury rate. And so what we are here to say is that it is time for Amazon to take responsibility for the conditions that their drivers are working under instead of outsourcing that responsibility. They need to take joint responsibility, either making these drivers employees of Amazon, or entering into new agreements with the subcontractors so that Amazon has direct responsibility for those working conditions.

“The last thing to say is this before I turn it over to Senator Warren: workers have stood up for themselves to try to improve these conditions. In fact, you'll hear a story today about a group of workers in California who are working for one of these delivery companies who decided to take matters into their own hands, decided to form a union, organize, to make sure that if Amazon wasn't going to protect them that they would protect themselves.

“When they did that Amazon had a pretty simple message for them: if you stand up for yourself, you're never working for Amazon. As soon as those workers began to organize, Amazon began to cut back on the routes that it gave to that company, ultimately terminating their contract. And let's be clear, that message was heard by every other company that works for Amazon. It was likely, unfortunately, heard by many other workers, that if you are a delivery driver that stands up for yourself, that demands better working conditions, Amazon doesn't want anything to do with you. There will be consequences for you, for the company that you work for.

“That's unacceptable. That is unacceptable. And so the second part of our message is that Amazon needs to stop these union-busting techniques, needs to stop punishing workers who stand up for themselves, when they are trying to get better conditions when it comes to delivering these packages.

“So I really want to thank all of our brothers and sisters who are here who are going to talk a little bit about their stories and their perspective working for and with Amazon and why it's time for Amazon to do better.

“Unfortunately, this is not a problem exclusive to Amazon. We're talking about Amazon today. But this is a tactic employed by big companies, big corporations all across this country, where they outsource work to subcontractors. They refuse to take responsibility for the conditions and the wages.

“And it's something that as Americans, and as members of Congress, we do not need to accept. We have sent a letter to Amazon demanding them to answer a set of questions about these practices. I'm really glad to say that this is a bipartisan letter. There are Republicans and Democrats in the Senate that have signed on to make these demands and to ask these questions, and I think it is a sign that there is a growing bipartisan coalition in the United States Senate to make sure that workers are not continually abused by these kind of corporate tactics.”