Amazon is facing a labor challenge from small-business owners who run the company’s package-delivery network.

The WSJ’s Sean McLain writes that a group calling itself DSPs for Equitable and Fair Treatment, or Deft, went public on Black Friday. Its goal is to organize the company’s roughly 2,400 delivery-service providers to fight for better terms and reverse policies they say wipe out their profits. The founders, who haven’t yet revealed their identities in public, want Amazon to increase pay for package deliveries and reimbursement for van usage, and loosen the criteria for bonuses.

The group has been in the works since this summer, when delivery-fleet owners started receiving surprise bills for van repairs, some surpassing $100,000, sparking an outcry that led to Amazon reversing the fees. An Amazon spokesperson said the majority of its DSPs run successful, profitable businesses, and claims otherwise were inaccurate. Deft’s founders are taking steps to shield members’ identities and communications from Amazon, after other labor-organizing efforts were met with resistance.

Robust spending has defied gloomy consumer sentiment and pressure from tariffs, setting retail landlords on surprisingly good footing heading into next year. The WSJ’s Kate King writes that retailers moved into 5.5 million more square feet than they vacated in the third quarter, according to CoStar. That marks a notable turnaround from the first half, when chain-store bankruptcies, a pullback by shoppers and tariff turmoil slowed demand for space.

Those bankruptcies have slowed and appetite for space from discount retailers such as Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Aldi, Burlington Stores and 7-Eleven has been strong. Retail construction, meanwhile, remains near historically low levels, tightening existing supply. The national vacancy rate was 4.3% in the third quarter, said CoStar, which forecasts that retailers will occupy 4.7 million more square feet than they vacate quarterly in 2026.

• Macy’s raised its full-year outlook and reported its highest comparable sales growth in 13 quarters as its turnaround plan begins to deliver results. (WSJ)
• Dollar Tree became the latest retailer to boost its full-year profit outlook, logging higher quarterly profit and sales as U.S. consumers remain willing to spend across categories. (WSJ)
• Zara owner Inditex reported accelerating sales growth at the start of the holiday shopping season, pointing to strong Black Friday performance. (WSJ)

A.P. Moller-Maersk said U.S. West Coast port activity is increasing, supported by current tariff conditions, but stricter enforcement of English language requirements and commercial driver license standards are tightening availability of drivers who handle the region’s short-distance container transport.

In an update on its North American business, the Danish company said carrier revocations were continuing at 5,000 to 6,000 a month, making for one of the most significant shifts in the U.S. trucking business since deregulation in 1980. Nevertheless, drayage rates haven’t risen, indicating a gradual market correction and not a supply shock.

Maersk said it had no specific time set to return to sailing through the Red Sea, though it was closely monitoring regional developments following the Gaza cease-fire. The carrier also said demand from India had increased amid hopes of a tariff deal between New Delhi and Washington.

• India’s rupee slipped to another fresh low, pressured by capital outflows and continued uncertainty about a trade deal with the U.S. (WSJ)

• Industrial output in the U.S. grew 0.1% in September on gains at utilities, partially retracing a 0.3% slump in August, the Federal Reserve said in a report delayed by the government shutdown. (WSJ)
• U.S. import prices were flat in September, with higher prices for nonfuel imports offsetting a fall in fuel import prices, Labor Department data showed. (WSJ)
• President Trump said he plans to roll back federal fuel-economy rules for passenger vehicles, his latest move to relieve automakers from mandates to build more efficient cars. (WSJ)
• The European Union presented a $3.5 billion plan to secure critical raw materials as tensions over China’s grip on rare earths leave businesses vulnerable. (WSJ)
• Airbus warned that a quality problem with its A320 jets would lower deliveries this year, days after a separate issue on thousands of its aircraft required an urgent software fix. (WSJ)
• The FTC is requiring Boeing to divest Spirit AeroSystems assets, including those supplying Airbus, among others, to resolve antitrust concerns over its proposed acquisition of the aircraft-parts maker. (WSJ)
• U.K. engineering company Smiths Group said it agreed to sell its baggage- and cargo-scanning unit to CVC Capital Partners in a $2.6 billion deal. (WSJ)
• Vulcan Energy Resources will proceed with its lithium and renewable energy project in Germany after securing initial funding. (WSJ)
• WiseTech Global’s pricing-model change for its CargoWise logistics-software products prompted backlash from customers saying it will raise their costs up to 50%. (Journal of Commerce)
• Ireland’s Liebherr Container Cranes signed a contract to deliver two new ship-to-shore cranes to Florida’s Port Tampa Bay, part of a plan to expand the port’s container terminal. (Tampa Bay Business & Wealth)
• Zodiac Maritime placed new building orders worth $1.6 billion with China’s Jiangsu Hantong Heavy Industry for six midsize containerships and eight very large crude carriers. (Lloyd’s List)
• Stanley Black & Decker said in a news release that it had named Schneider Electric’s Agustin Lopez Diaz as its new chief global supply chain officer.
• Contract carrier 10 Roads Express is ceasing operations after losing the U.S. Postal Service, which accounted for 70% of revenue, as its main customer. (Transport Topics)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.