Amazon fires 150 unionized third-party drivers, Teamsters says
Amazon has fired more than 150 unionized drivers working for a third-party contractor in Queens, New York, according to the Teamsters union.Workers rallied at the company’s DBK4 facility in Queens on Monday after the company fired the drivers, who worked for Cornucopia, a delivery service provider (DSP) that Amazon contracted with to make deliveries.Amazon works with more than 3,000 DSPs around the world who deliver the company’s packages.The Teamsters said the firings were in retaliation for unionizing.“Amazon is breaking the law and we let the public know it,” said Antonio Rosario, a member of local 804 and a Teamster organizer, in a statement.
“Amazon workers will continue to organize and fight for what they deserve.”In a statement, Amazon said the union was “deliberately spreading misinformation”.Amazon has long claimed that drivers who are employed by third-party contractors are not employees of the company, and that firing a contractor does not amount to retaliation for unionizing.In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson, Eileen Hards, called the move “a recent change we made that’s designed to allow DSPs to be more hands-on with their teams and support their operations at one delivery station”.“Our goal is to provide customers with fast delivery and great service – and we regularly review and make changes to the DSP program in support of this,” Hards said.
“Changes like this not only benefit their employees, but also our customers,”Last August, a National Labor Relations Board official in Los Angeles ruled that Amazon had engaged in unfair labor practices after it terminated its contract with Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS), another DSP based in Palmdale, California, whose drivers had unionized with the Teamsters,Although the NLRB said that Amazon’s action did not amount to retaliation, the official said Amazon and BTS “unlawfully failed and refused to bargain with the union over effects of the decision to terminate the BTS contract”,In its ruling, the NLRB deemed Amazon a joint employer of the drivers,Amazon has appealed against the ruling.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Teamsters organized a strike among Amazon warehouse workers across eight facilities over what the union says were stalled contract negotiations for better pay and working conditions,Last September, Amazon joined companies including SpaceX that argued the structure of the NLRB is unconstitutional because its board members cannot be removed by the president,Though a ruling on the case has not been issued, the supreme court stayed Donald Trump’s firing of Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the NLRB, despite being blocked by a lower court,Since Wilcox’s position remains unfilled, the labor board does not have a quorum to rule on labor disputes, meaning it is unable to rule on major labor disputes,
Ben & Jerry’s founders call for the brand to be ‘freed’ from its owners
The co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s have called for the ice-cream brand to be made independent and excluded from current owner Unilever’s plans to list its ice-cream business on the stock market.Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield say The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), a new division of Unilever that is set to be separately listed in November and includes the brand founded by the pair in 1978 alongside Magnum, Cornetto and Wall’s, “must free Ben & Jerry’s” in an open letter to prospective investors and the group’s board.The pair, who no longer have a financial interest in Ben & Jerry’s or any formal role, say they “feel compelled to speak out – as concerned individuals”.“We are deeply concerned that the commitments made to us, our employees, and our customers are being eroded. For several years now the voice of Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced by Unilever, particularly when the brand has tried to speak out about social justice and unjust wars
Nice deal if it happens – but Anglo Teck is also an invitation to other bidders
Anglo American, of the FTSE 100 index, and the Canadian group Teck Resources, would like you to think of their proposed $53bn (£39bn) combo as “a true merger of equals”, which it obviously isn’t because the UK-listed company is about twice the size. Anglo’s shareholders, even after they’ve been paid $4.5bn via a special dividend to even up the ratios a bit, will still emerge with 62.4% of the new company.But it is a merger in the sense that Anglo isn’t paying a meaningful takeover premium to get the deal done – just a token one of 2%
Apple debuts thinner, $999 iPhone Air at ‘awe-dropping’ annual product event
Apple debuted its latest iPhone on Tuesday, trumpeting the smartphone’s slimmest design yet. The device, named the iPhone Air, is one of several upgrades the company unveiled at its annual product showcase, promoted with the title “awe-dropping”. The event kicked off at 10am PT with CEO Tim Cook speaking in front of its Cupertino headquarters.“Design is at the core of everything we do,” Cook said. The CEO touted the company’s thin iPhone, which sports a width of 5
How Google dodged a major breakup – and why OpenAI is to thank for it
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, writing to you as I finish the audiobook version of Don DeLillo’s White Noise, which I can’t say I found compelling.In tech – artificial intelligence is having its day in court with an 11th-hour appearance in Google’s landmark antitrust trial and Anthropic’s major settlement with book authors.Google dodged a catastrophic breakup, and it has its biggest competitor to thank for that, according to the judge who could have forced the tech giant to sell off Chrome, the most popular web browser in the world, and perhaps Android, the world’s most widely used mobile operating system.Amit Mehta, who ruled in 2024 that Google had built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the internet search business, said last week that he would not force the most drastic remedy on the tech giant
Pope among the runs as Surrey build against Warwickshire: county cricket, day two – as it happened
A round of closely matched first-innings games bubbled intriguingly around the country. At the Oval, Surrey oiled their sinews and started to pull away from Warwickshire, after Rory Burns (idiosyncratically), Dom Sibley (steadily) and Ollie Pope (busily) each collected a half century. Earlier, Warwickshire had inched to a two-run first-innings lead, but just short of a batting point, thanks to fifty from Ed Barnard and some lusty blows from Nathan Gilchrist. There were three wickets for the rapid Gus Atkinson and four for Tom Lawes.Nottinghamshire, who started the round just nine points behind Surrey, stay on their tail after Josh Tongue ruined Worcestershire’s afternoon
Team USA make early Ryder Cup faux pas with ‘McIlroy’ silhouette T-shirt
Navy top carries the slogan ‘USA Ryder Cup 2025’Social media erupted after item went on sale onlineThe United States team has made an early Ryder Cup faux pas after an official T-shirt appeared on sale, featuring a silhouette which bears an uncanny resemblance to Europe’s Rory McIlroy. What on earth was wrong with Scottie Scheffler? McIlroy is the leading name on the European roster to face the US at Bethpage on the final weekend of September.Social media erupted after the item appeared on the US element of the official Ryder Cup shop. Costing $65 (£48), the navy Ralph Lauren T-shirt carries the slogan “USA Ryder Cup 2025”. The golfer performing a follow through as the backdrop is almost certainly McIlroy albeit the Northern Irishman shrugged off the bizarre matter at Wentworth on Tuesday
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