Workers who wear Amazon vests and drive vans with the company’s logo aren’t legally employed by Amazon. that could change in New York City, under legislation that Teamsters and Amazon workers alongside the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are organising to pass The Delivery Protection Act . It would require Amazon, alongside FedEx and other companies, to directly employ drivers rather than rely on third-party subcontractors. It would also establish safety, training, and labour standards for delivery drivers. Across the country, 4,500 tiny companies act as Amazon’s delivery service partners (DSPs)—meaning these contractors are the nominal employers, even while the logistics giant retains control. “For years, Amazon has relied on a convoluted subcontracting system that denies last-mile drivers the protections other workers get, while maintaining extraordinary control over their schedules, workloads, and uniforms,” said Julie Su, New York City’s deputy mayor for economic justice, in a statement. Treating DSP delivery drivers as Amazon’s direct employees would make the company responsible for wage and safety protections and other legal liabilities. A similar bill is under consideration in Chicago. The move is being opposed by the establishment leaders of the Democratic Party who all happen to be very rich or very well connected and of course by Amazon itself. Amazon’s army of union-busters and lawyers cost the company TwentySix million dollars in 2026 alone to intimidate workers and file endless court appeals in a war of attrition. The company’s signature move is to abruptly sever ties with a DSP after workers organise—as it did with a DSP that voluntarily recognised a union of drivers and dispatchers who joined the Teamsters in 2023 in Palmdale, California.
The fact that Green energy projects develop in a capitalist world and are as exploitative of workers as in any other are of production should not be used to obstruct a move away from planet-threatening carbon-based energy resources. But in addition to most green-energy jobs being low wage, cruder exploitation is also real In August 2026, it was reported that Indonesian technicians in Taiwan were subjected to forced labour and wage theft while working on renewable energy projects.The workers were recruited through a Singaporean labour supplier called Sheffield Green, who allegedly “changed their contracts” and reduced their salaries upon arrival. According to reporting in The Taipei Times, “several building contractors” for offshore wind farms and CPC Corporation were “engaged in the deception”. Other abuses include an alleged failure to give workers time to recover from work-related injuries, and a failure to pay their health and labour insurance.
The latest Seafarer’s Happiness Index shows strong criticism of “ship-shore interface” especially in relation to wages, shore-leave and welfare while ashore, but an ever-increasing appreciation of fellow crew solidarity
A Ugandan textile workers’ union has secured enforceable protections against gender-based violence and sexual harassment in four collective agreements, strengthening efforts to tackle workplace abuses. The agreements, negotiated by the Uganda Textile, Garment, Leather and Allied Workers’ Union, align with the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 190 on violence and harassment at work. Two also include mandatory human rights due diligence clauses. The campaign has also secured permanent employment for 30 previously precarious workers, including 18 women, and trained 100 shop stewards in gender-responsive due diligence. However, the union faced employer resistance, including attempts to block factory visits.