Amazon's Flex drivers are the latest workers to speak out about unsafe labor conditions with the online giant they say Amazon is indiscriminately cutting their pay and disregarding safety for drivers working in New Jersey Flex workers use their own vehicles to deliver packages for Amazon it's a gig job similar to Uber or Lyft and according to recent reports some have been met with threats and even violence senior correspondent Joanna Gagis has the story Amazon Flex drivers rallied in front of an Amazon fulfillment center in Woodland Park today demanding better wages and improved safety conditions while they deliver packages two years ago I was getting paid $160 sometimes even $190 we went down from 160 to20 then now we're all the way down to $86 for 4our blocks not only that they're also in us out there instead of giving us the blocks that we had before with 32 stops now we're getting up to 50 stops for that amount of money I have a son he suffers from autism so I used to do the night route where I used to make $200 and I used to do that at night because I could have spend the day with my son but right now because of the wages going down I'm not able to continue to drivers like Evelyn and Esther Nunes say they were never told their delivery rates would change they just saw the numbers dropping off over the last few months and as Flex drivers they use their own cars and are not reimbursed for their travel Amazon Flex drivers are a group that is overlooked and underestimated um Amazon is the largest employer in the state of New Jersey but these workers so far don't count because Amazon has decided to call them independent contractors this is a Workforce that's ignored their security issues are ignored their working conditions are ignored many of their deliveries are now happening overnight at 3: or 4:00 a.m. leaving drivers to navigate pitch black roads and homes or Worse threats from homeowners because they're arriving in the middle of the night in unmarked cars they're asking for company lamps for their cars we had drivers getting threatened you know with guns um dogs Amazon sells a lamp on their app and it says Amazon flex but of course we have to buy it you know so we think that if you're going to have us out there and you're going to have us in certain areas and certain times then just give us something more so people can actually identify us better some have even faced injury from dog bites or gunshot wounds and in urban areas they've been subjected to crimes during those midnight deliveries at 3:30 in the morning 4:00 in the morning they come up to us where one of the women drivers here was mugged beaten up taking away her car we reached out to Amazon for comment they told us they do offer a 24/7 helpline but employees are directed to call 911 in emergency situations what these drivers are asking for is to eliminate those overnight Roots um you won't see FedEx making a delivery in the middle of the night of a normal package you won't see UPS doing that because it's common sense it's very obviously dangerous to both clients and customers and so this group has asked to eliminate those overnight routes and for the daytime routes to make sure that drivers are clearly identified that customers know that they're coming and they know who to expect the workers attempted to deliver this petition with their request to their managers today they were met instead with a closed door managers who wouldn't let them inside or even speak with them they know what they're doing they close the door because they don't want to give it a letter to Amazon I feel neglected because I feel like if we're here doing all this stuff for you and this is the way you're treating us and that's not fair what they're doing by closing the door on us is showing proof that what we're complaining about is actually factual management closed the door on them and that's not a surprise to us as for these Flex drivers they say they'll continue to rally and protest until A Change Is Made in Woodland Park I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News