The Future of Politics is On Your Street

New York Mayor Mamdani has announced his support of the Delivery Protection Act which would require companies like Amazon to hire delivery workers directly instead of contracting with companies to do it for them. I had heard of this recently when we had Benjamin Fong on the podcast to talk about his work mapping Amazon warehouses in the greater NYC area.  Benjamin noted that there was a traffic safety element to this in that liability for all the drivers goes to the contracting companies and not Amazon itself, allowing the company to skirt accountability.

There was also a research paper today in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives looking at last mile deliveries in Medellin Colombia which came to a similar conclusion, saying that by using informal workers, operational efficiency overrode labor protections and sustainability exposing workers to greater risk. The paper’s abstract went on to say…”Additionally, the lack of regulatory oversight has led to the institutionalization of informality, perpetuating a cycle in which negative externalities—such as congestion, road crashes, and environmental degradation—are borne by society rather than private actors.”

Another interesting side note to all this is the political and labor implications. What looks like a small political posture in New York City is part of a larger push from organized labor to shift the window on union membership and labor practices.

One of the largest increases in labor union membership according to Fong when we chatted was during the 1930s when labor started going after big manufacturers like the auto companies and won. This increased union participation by a large amount all at once, bolstered protections for workers. There is hope from organizers that the same thing can happen with all these massive e-commerce and logistics companies which employ a lot of people who would bolster union density to new heights.

This is also just the latest piece of a puzzle that’s been unfolding over the last decade as city streets are reorganized and co-opted beyond individual private uses such as active transportation, micromobility, or driving. Ride hailing and delivery companies have been the most noticeable and impactful change as cities look to manage its public spaces including curbs and streets as more space is consumed.  But it’s not just about managing the space, it’s also about fairness to all the people that use it.

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