An Amazon delivery driver said last year that the holiday rush was “hell.” So this year, if you say, “Alexa, thank my driver,” the Amazon worker in question will receive a $5 tip.
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Amazon has been sued by the Washington Attorney General for allegedly enticing customers to tip to cover the shortfall in base wages for its couriers.
“Nothing is more important to us than customer trust,” Amazon spokeswoman Maria Boschettiin a statement to Bloomberg. We updated our practices three years ago, so lawsuit is without merit. As part of a settlement with the FTC last year, all customer tips were already paid to drivers.
To celebrate the milestone of 15 billion packages delivered, Amazon has introduced a new feature . Drivers who are among the first 1 million recipients of a thank you note will receive a $5 tip. The five drivers who receive the most thank you notes will receive a $10,000 bonus, with an additional $10,000 donated to a charity of their choice. With this promotion, Amazon will pay employees approximately $5.1 million.
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“ Our drivers don’t just deliver packages – they build relationships with customers, support the community in difficult times, and sometimes become heroes ,” Beryl Tomay , vice president of Amazon’s Last Mile Delivery division , wrote in a press release
The Amazon Flex website estimates that these “unsung heroes” earn between $18 and $25 an hour. Amazon Flex drivers are employees who, using their own vehicles, make deliveries whenever they can. Amazon doesn’t rely solely on in-house drivers, but also has a network of delivery service partners (DSPs), who operate independently.
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Amazon recently raised the bar by increasing benefits and pay for workers and delivery drivers, but that’s not enough for some labor organizers who have demanded a $5-an-hour raise. Over the next 12 months, Amazon will spend nearly $1 billion on that goal. The investments come at a time when reports say Amazon could run out of warehouse in the U.S. by 2024, due to high turnover in these roles.
