LA driver spots an Amazon worker in 89-degree heat. Then he sees what the rider is doing: ‘turning people into slaves?’

A TikTok video of an Amazon delivery worker pedaling an electric cargo bike through Los Angeles has racked up 3.9 million views. The car filming him shows an outside temperature of around 89 degrees. “mind you iss hot af in LA,” the creator wrote in the caption.

Posted by AutoBoy on TikTok, the clip shows the worker pedaling what appears to be one of Amazon’s newer delivery vehicles. The creator watches in disbelief, asking, “Jeff Bezos really out here making, turning people into slaves? Cause what the h**l is this, bro? Oh, hell no.”

The comments quickly turned to how demanding the job actually is. One person claiming to drive one of the vehicles wrote, “I drive one of these and it’s pretty much electric. It’s not as labor intensive as it looks plus you get paid $32.75/hr…. Not bad.” Others weren’t buying it. “Hamster wheel,” one commenter wrote. Another accused Amazon of “making maximum profit on your labor and you eating it up.”

Amazon’s electric cargo bikes

Amazon has been adding smaller pedal-assist vehicles to its fleet. According to Supply Chain 24/7, the company is working with ALSO, a Rivian spinoff, on pedal-assist electric cargo vehicles. Emily Barber, Amazon’s director of global fleet, said the vehicles help the company reach “dense, urban cities.” It is unclear whether the bike in the TikTok video is part of that partnership.

The bike’s electric assistance may make deliveries less strenuous than they look, but it doesn’t answer questions about working in the heat. In another Amazon driver video, a worker claimed his truck hit 110 degrees during a delivery day.

Amazon workers have also spoken out about other aspects of the job. One employee said he quit mid-shift, only to find that Amazon continued scheduling him for more than two weeks. His account concerned scheduling rather than delivery conditions, but it’s another example of an Amazon worker speaking out about their experience on the job.

The comments offer competing accounts of what it’s like to ride one of these vehicles. The video doesn’t show how long the worker has been on the road or how much assistance the motor provides, so viewers are left to judge the job from a brief clip. Some see a delivery vehicle that takes much of the physical strain out of the work. Others see a worker pedaling through nearly 90-degree heat to get packages to customers. Whether the bike makes the job easier or not, the clip has clearly given viewers something to argue about.