--- title: Why Amazon Delivery Drivers Are On Strike description: Rubie Mosqueda, a delivery driver at an Amazon facility in Southern California, explains why she and her colleagues are on strike. canonical: https://time.com/7203775/why-amazon-drivers-are-on-strike/ author: Rubie Mosqueda article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-12-21T20:59:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:20:52.165Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why Amazon Delivery Drivers Are On Strike og:description: A delivery driver at an Amazon facility in Southern California, explains why she and her colleagues are on strike. og:url: https://time.com/7203775/why-amazon-drivers-are-on-strike/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdd0771fd7341829/698b24ee011682e58898d505/Amazon-Delivery-Strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-STRIKE-LABOR-AMAZON og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Amazon Delivery Drivers Are On Strike twitter:description: A delivery driver at an Amazon facility in Southern California, explains why she and her colleagues are on strike. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdd0771fd7341829/698b24ee011682e58898d505/Amazon-Delivery-Strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # I Deliver Packages For Amazon. Now I’m on Strike > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Rubie Mosqueda](https://time.com/author/rubie-mosqueda/) ## Rubie Mosqueda Dec 21, 2024 8:59 PM UTC  mazon workers walk the picket line outside an Amazon facility in the City of Industry, California on December 19, 2024. mazon workers walk the picket line outside an Amazon facility in the City of Industry, California on December 19, 2024. Frederic J. Brown—AFP/ Getty Images by [Rubie Mosqueda](https://time.com/author/rubie-mosqueda/) ## Rubie Mosqueda Dec 21, 2024 8:59 PM UTC My husband and I work full-time for one of the wealthiest companies in the world. So why can’t we afford to start a family? For four years, my husband, Andrew, and I have driven delivery vehicles for Amazon throughout Southern California. My job means a lot to me. Rain or shine, I make over [160 stops](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/21/drivers-speak-out-about-pressures-of-delivering-for-an-amazon-dsp.html) a day delivering packages in my community, and I’m proud knowing that what I do makes a difference in people’s lives. But for too long, Amazon has [taken advantage](https://time.com/6978643/amazon-workers-say-they-struggle-to-afford-food-and-rent/) of me and [my co-workers](https://time.com/6248340/amazon-injuries-survey-labor-osha/). You might think a corporation worth more than [$2 trillion](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/26/amazon-reaches-2-trillion-market-cap-for-the-first-time.html) would treat its employees better. At Amazon’s facility in the City of Industry, known as DAX5, we earn $22 per hour and I am not paid for my lunch break. I work four days per week, for 10 hours per day, and do not make enough to cover the cost of living in California. The vans we drive are dirty and [often unsafe](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/30/amazon-dsps-tell-drivers-to-bypass-safety-inspections.html). On top of that, we are [constantly monitored by cameras](https://www.vice.com/en/article/amazons-ai-cameras-are-punishing-drivers-for-mistakes-they-didnt-make/) inside our vans searching for the smallest infractions—even during our breaks. But perhaps worst of all, Amazon has attempted to block my co-workers and I from exercising our rights. They do this at my facility and others like it by hiring drivers through supposedly independent companies, referred to as Delivery Service Partners (DSPs), that deliver packages exclusively for Amazon. By doing that, they claim we are not really their employees and that they do not need to bargain with us if we form a union. And it doesn’t stop there. If you want to be hired by a DSP, [you apply for the job through the Amazon website](https://hiring.amazon.com/job-opportunities/delivery-driver-jobs#/). [The routes we drive are determined by Amazon’s algorithms](https://www.vice.com/en/article/amazons-cost-saving-routing-algorithm-makes-drivers-walk-into-traffic/). And Amazon sets our schedules and has the ability to discipline and fire us. Even though my entire job revolves around Amazon—whether it’s wearing an Amazon uniform or driving and delivering Amazon products—they argue that I’m not _really_ an Amazon worker. At DAX5, all of this has made us feel powerless. For Andrew and me, the uncertainty and bad conditions we face at work have forced us to put off starting a family. We simply can’t afford it. ## Why Amazon workers are unionizing With how much we are up against, it seemed like there was nothing we could do to get ahead in life. But then I heard about other Amazon workers who have been leading a movement to demand their rights by joining the Teamsters Union, and I became inspired to get involved. After researching the topic more, I learned about the contracts the Teamsters Union has gotten for workers across the country—including at companies like [UPS](https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/). UPS is worth about 20 times less than Amazon, but the drivers who do the same work as me are paid significantly higher wages on average. Many of their facilities [have](https://teamster.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1924UPSNATIONALMASTERFINAL.pdf) carwashes and mechanics on site. And because they are Teamsters, they have more job security. Meanwhile, our management can fire us if we look at them funny. Hearing about the Teamsters made me realize that I needed to do something to secure a better future—not just for me and Andrew but also for the family we want to start someday. Off the clock, we started talking to other DAX5 drivers about what the Teamsters have done for workers at other companies and found out our co-workers share a lot of the same views. In November, after months of having long, hard conversations, a majority of drivers in our facility were in favor of becoming Teamsters, so we [launched](https://teamster.org/2024/11/southern-california-amazon-drivers-at-dax5-join-teamsters-union/) our union. Since then, Amazon has refused to recognize us and negotiate a contract. We believe what they are doing is unfair and illegal. Now, workers have had enough. Thousands of Amazon Teamsters across America are taking to the picket line to demand a fair labor agreement. Workers from Amazon facilities in New York, Georgia, Illinois, and California are on strike. And overall, workers are picketing at hundreds of Amazon facilities. We don’t want to fight with Amazon. All we want is to come to work, do our jobs, and earn enough to live on. But Amazon has left us no other choice. If we don’t act now, Amazon’s corporate greed will spread like a sickness to other companies and make them think they can get away with treating their workers just as poorly. The way I see it, we have to fight for our rights—they won’t be given to us for free. At Amazon, we are ready to do whatever it takes to finally get the respect we have earned. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7203775/why-amazon-drivers-are-on-strike/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7203775/why-amazon-drivers-are-on-strike/"},"headline":"I Deliver Packages For Amazon. 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