The Attorney General of the U.S. state of New Jersey, Jennifer Davenport, on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of abusing its market power over third-party delivery contractors to suppress competition and harm workers.

According to the lawsuit, Amazon prevents delivery workers from unionising, prohibits contractors in its delivery network from recruiting one another’s drivers, and restricts competition for labour.

The Attorney General’s office argues that these practices have suppressed wages and worsened working conditions for delivery workers.

The lawsuit argues that these practices suppress wages and force workers to endure tougher working conditions than they otherwise would.

“As our complaint alleges, Amazon built a company worth trillions while subjecting drivers in its delivery network to artificially low pay and punishing working conditions thanks to its overwhelming power in the labor market,” Davenport said in a statement.

Since launching its Delivery Service Partner programme in 2018, Amazon has relied on thousands of independent small businesses to manage the final leg of package deliveries, transporting orders from its warehouses directly to customers’ homes.

The programme has enabled Amazon to reduce its dependence on major logistics companies such as UPS and FedEx while accelerating delivery times for customers.

However, the model has faced growing scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators and labour advocates, who argue that Amazon uses the third-party contractor structure to limit its legal responsibilities and avoid directly employing delivery drivers, even as it maintains significant influence over their wages, work schedules and uniforms.

Amazon, however, maintains that its delivery partners operate independently and retain full control over their businesses.