Dozens of drivers who deliver packages for Amazon.com Inc. AMZN ratified a contract Friday that promises pay raises and safety protections, the Teamsters said. Among other things, the contract will bring wages for 84 Palmdale, Calif.-based drivers and dispatchers to $30 an hour by September, the union said. But those new benefits and increases won’t last for long. MarketWatch reported earlier this week that the drivers had reached a tentative agreement with their direct employer, Battle Tested Strategies, an Amazon delivery service partner. But Amazon told MarketWatch earlier this week that the company had terminated Battle Tested Strategies’ contract, and on Friday said the contract expires June 24. When asked for comment Friday about Amazon terminating its contract with the delivery service partner, a Teamsters spokesperson would only refer to a prepared statement from Randy Korgan, the Teamsters Amazon Division director and Teamsters Joint Council 42 director of organizing: “These workers have been delivering Amazon packages as unionized drivers for a week now.” Battle Tested Strategies has not returned repeated requests for comment.
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