Business Groups Urge NYC Council to Block Bill Requiring Direct Employment of Delivery Workers

Employers

A coalition of business and taxpayer groups is pressing the New York City Council to block a proposed law that would require operators of last-mile delivery warehouses to employ their warehouse and delivery workers directly instead of through contractors. The coalition, which includes the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and the American Consumer Institute, sent a letter to the council and Speaker Julie Menin on Tuesday, Oct. 20, the New York Post reported.

“These requirements would impose substantial costs on businesses while doing little to address the underlying safety concerns the legislation purports to solve,” the letter said, according to the Post. The groups said companies such as Amazon and UPS, and ultimately consumers, would bear those costs.

The measure, which supporters call the Delivery Protection Act, is Int. 0518-2026. It remains a proposal. The council’s legislative record lists its status as “Laid Over in Committee” in the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, which held a hearing on April 9. No action has been recorded since then, and the Post reported that no committee vote has been scheduled.

What the bill would require

The bill, whose prime sponsor is Council Member Tiffany Cabán, would require anyone operating a last-mile facility in the city to obtain a license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for each location. A last-mile facility is defined as a warehouse or storage site from which goods are delivered to consumers in the city.

The central provision covers employment. Workers who sort and handle packages inside those facilities, and workers who deliver packages part time or full time, would have to be directly employed by the facility operator. Contracting with third parties, including staffing agencies and subcontractors, for that work would be prohibited. The direct-employment rule would take effect 12 months after enactment, with extensions for existing contracts of up to 24 months.

While contracted drivers remain in place, operators would have to keep records on each driver and post a $500,000 bond for each non-employee delivery worker. The money would go into a fund that people injured in road incidents involving those workers could draw on after winning a court judgment. The Post described the $500,000 as a penalty, but the bill text describes a bond. The bill also requires 30 days’ notice before most firings, at least six hours of safety training within 92 days of hire and once a year after that and $1,000-a-day civil penalties for some violations.

The two sides

The coalition’s letter argues that the bond and other obligations create “a powerful incentive for businesses to abandon independent contracting altogether,” and that the rules could push small independent operators out of the market. Its cost estimates are projections, not outcomes. The roughly $664 a year per household that the groups cited comes from an analysis by the consulting firm AKRF, commissioned by the Five Borough Jobs Campaign, which Amazon cited in September, according to Fox Business.

In testimony to the committee, Amazon said the bill would end its agreements with more than 40 local delivery service partners. It said those businesses employ more than 5,000 people and that the bill would threaten their jobs. Amazon said it supports more than 25,000 full- and part-time employees in the city, including more than 2,000 at local delivery facilities. It also said the bill would make it “seriously examine” options including relocating delivery facilities outside the city. A company spokesperson told Fox Business, “We’re not looking to leave New York City.”

Supporters cite safety and accountability. Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed the bill on Aug. 10, saying, “Corporations like Amazon build billion-dollar business models by insulating themselves from accountability,” amNY reported. Cabán said companies “have operated in our city like it’s the Wild West.” The Teamsters and the Workers Justice Project also back the bill, according to the Post.

A November 2025 report from the city comptroller’s office found that 14 of 18 large last-mile facilities that opened in the city between 2015 and 2022 saw more injury-causing crashes nearby after they opened. Injuries within half a mile rose 16% on average. The report also counted more than 2,000 workplace injuries reported to federal regulators at 38 such facilities from 2022 to 2024. Amazon has disputed the report’s data, amNY reported.

The legislative record lists 34 council members as sponsors, plus Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; two-thirds of the 51-member council is 34. The bill must clear committee before a full council vote.

Sources

• New York City Council, “Int 0518-2026: Requiring the licensing of last-mile facilities,” legislative record accessed October 20, 2026. https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7879110&GUID=BDDD32F1-1178-492D-80F2-205845356FD2
• New York Post (Hannah Fierick), “Lefty NYC labor bill would kill Amazon, UPS jobs, warns dire letter,” October 20, 2026. https://nypost.com/2026/10/20/us-news/lefty-nyc-labor-bill-would-kill-amazon-ups-jobs-warns-dire-letter/
• Amazon, “Amazon’s testimony on the proposed Delivery Protection Act in New York City” (undated testimony to the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection), accessed October 20, 2026. https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/policy-news-views/amazon-testimony-delivery-protection-act-new-york-city
• amNY (Adam Daly), “Mamdani takes aim at Amazon subcontracting model in multimillion-dollar delivery bill fight,” August 10, 2026. https://www.amny.com/politics/mamdani-amazon-subcontracting-bill-fight/
• Fox Business, “Amazon warns Mamdani-backed delivery mandate could cost NYC households hundreds every year,” September 2, 2026. https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/amazon-warns-mamdani-backed-delivery-mandate-could-cost-nyc-households-hundreds-every-year
• Office of the New York City Comptroller, “Fast Shipping. Slow Justice: Traffic, Worker, and Climate Hazards in Last Mile Delivery,” November 17, 2025. https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/fast-shipping-slow-justice-traffic-worker-and-climate-hazards-in-last-mile-delivery/

Featured photo: An Amazon Prime delivery van travels west on Union Turnpike at Utopia Parkway in Fresh Meadows, Queens, Dec. 27, 2020. Representative image; not a depiction of any company or worker named in the bill dispute. Photo: Tdorante10, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cropped from the original.