Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., has joined Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and 32 other senators in seeking answers from Amazon regarding reports of mistreatment of its delivery drivers. This marks the second letter sent by the bipartisan group to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, following an initial inquiry on January 10, 2024. The first letter questioned Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program after employees reported that the company was attempting to avoid legal liability for the alleged mistreatment of DSP drivers.

Amazon's response to the January letter was deemed unhelpful by the senators, who stated that it evaded their questions and contradicted publicly available data and reporting. The follow-up letter urges Amazon to address these concerns directly or provide evidence disproving the claims.

“Unfortunately, Amazon’s response to our letter follows a familiar pattern of Amazon providing evasive and non-specific answers to questions from Congress and gives little if any new information on the DSP Program. Previous inquiries – much like ours – have been met with Amazon’s refusal to share important information on the company’s operations,” wrote the senators. “As we noted in our initial letter, Amazon is facing allegations of flagrant violations of the National Labor Relations Act. As members of Congress, we have the responsibility to ensure that Amazon is working to address shortcomings in the DSP program and placing the utmost importance on workers’ rights and safety.”

The senators' letter demands specific answers about Amazon's relationship with DSPs and challenges the company's claim that drivers are not considered Amazon employees and can choose their employers freely. Additionally, they requested more detailed information on how Amazon tracks and reports safety data after finding insufficient evidence supporting its claim that accident rates for DSPs are lower than industry averages.

“Your response will inform ongoing discussions between the signatories of this letter, and the oversight staff of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and will help us determine whether additional oversight is required to receive answers to these serious questions of public concern,” added the senators.

Full text of both letters is available online.