Amazon warns it may close New York City warehouses if delivery worker bill becomes law
Amazon has warned that New York City's Delivery Protection Act could force it to close more than a dozen warehouses and cut thousands of jobs, while industry experts told the New York Post the company would likely follow through on the threat.
Amazon has told New York lawmakers it could close more than a dozen warehouses and move thousands of workers out of New York City if the Delivery Protection Act becomes law, according to an exclusive report by the New York Post. Industry experts who track the company’s labor strategy told the Post that Amazon would likely carry out the threat, pointing to what happened in Quebec last year.
The Delivery Protection Act would force Amazon to directly hire more than 5,000 delivery workers across the city who now work for roughly 40 third-party contractors, according to the Post. Supporters of the bill, which is backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, say it would raise pay and improve safety for delivery workers at Amazon, FedEx and DoorDash.
Amazon does not directly employ delivery workers anywhere else in the country. The company told the Post that New York is one of the largest and most complex delivery regions in the nation, and that the city is best served by a network of local small businesses using its delivery infrastructure.
What Amazon says is at stake
Beyond the 5,000 contractor delivery jobs, experts told the Post that Amazon could also close its 15 last-mile facilities in the city and cut the roughly 2,000 workers who staff them. “Amazon wouldn’t blink about shutting down the 15 facilities in New York City if it felt that the legislation was a threat to its business model,” said Brittain Ladd, a logistics consultant and former Amazon executive. “This is about a model that could be copied in other cities.”
A company-backed study by AKFR estimated the bill would cost New Yorkers an extra $664 a year, or about $5.20 per package, covering deliveries by other companies as well as Amazon, according to the Post. Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said delivery times and prices would increase if the warehouses closed. A person familiar with Amazon’s operations told the Post that same-day and same-morning deliveries would take the biggest hit, and fewer items would qualify for Prime’s fastest promises.
The Quebec precedent
The warning draws force from what happened in Quebec. Early last year, Amazon closed seven warehouses near Montreal after a union organized 300 workers at a facility in Laval, the Post reported. By March 2025, about 1,900 warehouse workers and 2,800 delivery contractors in the region had lost their jobs.
“Amazon will retaliate, because it has to send a firm message to the rest of the country that ‘If you mess with us, this is what will happen,'” said Marc Wulfraat, president and founder of logistics consulting firm MWPVL International. “When you look at Amazon’s global operations, they close buildings left, right and center when there is union activity.” Amazon is still fighting litigation in Quebec, where it denies the closures were connected to the union drive.
The 40 independent delivery companies that employ the 5,000 contractor workers say they would be collateral damage. “Look at what happened in Quebec,” Kris Basmagy, owner of DashWave Delivery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, told the Post. “There was pressure on Amazon’s model, and it pulled out.” Joe Artus, owner of WGA Transit, which delivers Amazon packages in Harlem, told the Post his company would not survive the bill as written: “If this thing passes, there is no way for my company to exist or to keep my 189 employees.”
The bill was first introduced a year ago by Queens Council Member Tiffany Cabán and reintroduced in 2026. It has about 34 co-signers in the City Council, but no vote has been scheduled, and Speaker Julie Menin is uneasy about potential job losses, the Post reported. A compromise under discussion would let independent contractors keep making deliveries while requiring stronger safety guarantees, according to a source close to the talks cited by the Post.
The Teamsters union accused Amazon of dodging responsibility for its workers. “Amazon will say or do whatever it takes to deny workers stronger rights and wages and abdicate its responsibilities for its own employees,” the union said in a statement.
Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post.
