A group of Spanish drivers hired to deliver Amazon packages in the UK during the Christmas campaign have filed a lawsuit against the e-commerce giant and one of its subcontracting companies.
According to the drivers, Amazon’s subcontractor promised them during a video conference in Spanish that their daily income would exceed 100 pounds. [unos 118 euros] And that they will have accommodation, truck rental, insurance and round-trip flights.
Once in the UK, workers were trained for four days at Amazon facilities. But the total amount they promised has not yet arrived, they say, after working for several weeks.
Some drivers reported that they did not receive the full amount agreed upon, and that in some cases, at the end of the contract, they were charged thousands of pounds for damage to vehicles, leaving many in debt. Although drivers acknowledge the damage, they confirm that the prices they charge are exorbitant.
The drivers took legal action against One Motion, Amazon’s subcontractor, seeking unpaid wages as well as damages. They assert in the lawsuit that the way the company obtained its agreement to these charges was not “correct,” as they were informed of these terms after signing. Amazon is listed as a co-defendant.
United Global Voices Consortium [UVW, por sus siglas en inglés] He supports the drivers in the lawsuit. According to a UVW spokesperson, the payroll deductions are exorbitant, and nearly all of the workers on the claim were victims of this “deduction strategy.” “One Motion continues to send debt collection agency employees to harass workers over these incorrect debts, putting their financial well-being and credit ratings at risk,” he said.
According to One Motion, Amazon’s subcontractor, “Each of the drivers employed by UVW received a daily wage of at least £100 [unos 118 euros] For each day they provided services, once the relevant deductions for vehicle rental expenses and/or accommodation expenses have been applied.
José Manuel Illa Asangono, one of the drivers in the lawsuit, asserts that One Motion not only avoided paying the full amount agreed upon, but now considers him indebted to the company. “After working for them for five weeks, they only paid me 200 pounds out of the agreed upon 3,100 pounds.” [unos 237 de los 3.667 euros] Now they say I owe them 5500 pounds [unos 6.506 euros]”The only thing I want is for them to return the money they owe us and for this not to happen to anyone else,” he said.
The driver, Diego Martín Baglieto, also says that when he had been working for 25 days, he realized he had only received £450. [unos 532 euros]Although the agreement stipulated weekly payment.
Bagglito and five other drivers shared accommodations with a man listed in the lawsuit only as Wilson. In one incident that prevented Wilson from moving his truck, One Motion told him he would have to cover the cost of repossessing the vehicle. According to the lawsuit, when driver Jose Maria Moreno Lopez asked One Motion managers to show him the truck’s insurance policy, the company told him he had to leave the residence and the country. Other drivers continued to work for fear of losing their accommodation and being forced to return to Spain with their salaries deducted and the return ticket paid.
According to UVW, these facts confirm without any other justification that it was an unfair dismissal.
Drivers registered as self-employed subcontractors
The drivers claim they were registered as self-employed, that the pay was weekly, and that they were told they would only have to take care of their own food. UVW contends that although the drivers were registered as self-employed subcontractors, under the Employment Rights Act 1996 they should have been considered paid workers having regard to the nature of their relationship with One Motion.
The union claims One Motion delayed payment to drivers and left large sums unpaid. It also confirms that, with the workers already returning to Spain, they were charged fees for the rental of the truck, minor damage to the vehicles and cleaning of their accommodation, as well as excessive administrative fees, according to UVW’s assessment, to process the transaction. Traffic fines.
One Motion rejects these allegations and maintains that classifying drivers as self-employed subcontractors is correct.
According to a One Motion spokesperson, “Where the net amount paid to a driver differs from the gross as a result of damage to the vehicle and/or fines or penalty notices, these costs have been clearly communicated to each driver, and communicated to all of them as well as to UVW, including a detailed report from A third party provides an estimate of damage to vehicles.
“Three of the 14 drivers represented by UVW did not incur additional costs due to damage to the vehicle as the vehicles were returned in the same condition in which they were delivered,” the spokesperson added. “The remaining eleven were held for between four and six weeks, and caused a total of £22,053 in damage. [unos 26.087 euros] For delivered vehicles. The majority of these vehicles were supplied by third parties and were returned to these suppliers shortly after Christmas. This means that we as a company bear these costs/losses directly due to the damages caused by the drivers responsible for these vehicles.
At Amazon, they deny involvement in any violation of the law and say they are committed to the fair treatment of employees at their subcontracting companies. “We are committed to ensuring that people hired by our independent delivery providers receive fair compensation and are treated with respect. We have been informed of the matter and are investigating,” they added.
Amazon generates nearly £27 billion in sales in the UK alone [unos 31.950 millones de euros]. One Motion Logistics Ltd, the subcontractor, generated revenues of £90 million [unos 106 millones de euros] For its operations in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.
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