August 24, 2026
4 Mins Read
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has thrown his support behind the NYC Delivery Protection Act, a bill that would require Amazon and other large delivery operators to employ their delivery workers directly rather than routing them through third-party subcontractors. If enacted, it would make New York City the first municipality in the country to impose such a licensing requirement on last-mile delivery facilities.
The bill, formally designated Int 0518-2026, was introduced in February 2026 by City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán. It would compel operators of last-mile delivery facilities to obtain a business licence from the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection as a condition of employing delivery workers. A companion measure, Senate Bill S9813, introduced by Senator Brisport, was read twice and ordered on 6 April 2026; it would designate the delivery network company as the employer of delivery workers under state law.
Mayor Mamdani’s office says major corporations have built their businesses on a subcontracting system that allows them to ‘dictate hiring standards, delivery routes, steep productivity quotas and workplace expectations while denying that the workers making those deliveries are employees.’ Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su has also issued a statement in support of the bill.
What the NYC Delivery Protection Act Would Require
The practical target is a delivery model that has become standard across the sector. Amazon, for instance, does not directly employ the drivers who move its parcels. Instead, it contracts with locally owned Delivery Service Partners (DSPs), which hire and manage drivers independently. Amazon delivers an estimated 2 million packages each day across the five boroughs, according to The City Reporter.
The Teamsters union, which has already helped unionise two Amazon facilities in Queens, backs the legislation. The union argues that direct employment would give workers greater bargaining power to negotiate wages and benefits with Amazon directly. The Teamsters have also filed a complaint alleging violations of the federal WARN Act in connection with Amazon delivery worker layoffs, and have urged the state Labour Department and the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to open enforcement proceedings.
Amazon’s $5 Million Fight and the Jobs at Stake
The bill has not yet been scheduled for a Council vote. If it clears the Council and survives any legal challenge, the question of whether Amazon absorbs thousands of workers onto its payroll or exits one of the world’s densest delivery markets will answer itself quickly.
Amazon has mounted a substantial campaign against the bill. According to NYS Focus, the company has funded a $5 million effort to oppose the legislation. Spokesperson Steve Kelly said the company is ‘proud to stand with our partners and oppose legislation that would hurt New York consumers, small businesses, and their employees.’
Amazon says it does not directly employ more than 200,000 drivers nationwide and warns the bill would threaten more than 40 locally owned DSPs in New York City and the jobs of their 5,000 employees, because the company may not rehire them under a direct-employment model. Amazon has also said it would consider relocating its delivery facilities outside the city if the measure passes.
Opponents, citing a study commissioned by local business groups, estimate the law could cost the average New York household around $664 more per year in delivery costs and put as many as 10,000 delivery jobs at risk as retailers shift logistics operations out of the city.
Rudy Cazares, a Bronx-based logistics company owner who contracts with Amazon under the DSP programme and employs more than 100 workers, told NYS Focus that the bill would ‘destroy’ his business, because it prohibits the third-party model his company relies on and offers no guarantee that Amazon would rehire his staff.
A spokesperson for the opposition group New York Delivers argued that the bill’s impacts ‘will fall hardest not on large corporations, but on the workers it claims to protect, local small business owners, and the 78% of New Yorkers who rely on delivery of essential goods each week.’ Councilmember Cabán, for her part, has accused Amazon of attempting to make the opposition appear grassroots while obscuring its own financial involvement.
The bill has not yet been scheduled for a Council vote. If it clears the Council and survives any legal challenge, the question of whether Amazon absorbs thousands of workers onto its payroll or exits one of the world’s densest delivery markets will answer itself quickly.
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