Amazon drivers unionize after AI sends them on 'impossible' routes
Increasing the volume of parcels and requiring long days for no extra reward eats into drivers' wages considering they have to pay for gas and other vehicle costs themselves. Both unions want Amazon to raise daily pay, cover gas expenses, and cut overtime work.
One driver said he often has to work over a previous limit that curbed work to 13 hours a day or 60 hours per week, a restriction that was recently scrapped,"Parcels have significantly increased since about a year ago, following the introduction of an artificial intelligence system to manage our delivery destinations," a driver said."I put in more than 12 hours a day."
The delivery drivers, however, are subcontractors and technically work for a third-party logistics company. Amazon is not legally responsible for their working conditions. The labor union groups believe they should be treated as employees since they work directly for the company."Given that they get orders directly from Amazon Japan through an app, they work for Amazon," Sekiguchi argued.
Amazon has been ignoring the Yokosuka union's efforts to negotiate so far."Drivers are doing their jobs under contract with our subcontractor and they are not our employees," company representatives said in a statement to The Asahi Shumbun."The subcontractor is responsible for drivers' employment, contracts, operation management and payments."
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