Deliveristas rallied at City Hall for protections from being fired without cause from delivery apps.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
As the City Council votes to determine if delivery apps can block workers and fire them, a group rallied outside City Hall to demand fair pay and protections from the apps themselves.
The rally, held on Sept. 12, had New York City’s local restaurant owners and deliveristas, as well as representation from the City Council. The crowd chanted about how many groups would be impacted without fair protections.
Intro 1332, brought to the City Council by City Council Member Justin Brannan, would prohibit app-based delivery services from deactivating app-based delivery workers without just cause or bona fide economic reasons.
“During the pandemic, they couldn’t stay; they put their lives on the line to give us our burritos before we put our phones down. This isn’t right,” said Brannan.
If passed, the bill would impact more than 80,000 workers across the city.
“This impacts me greatly. I know this city like the back of my hand. I was hurt while working and I feel at risk. I am pushed out overnight,” said Jose, a rider for Grubhub who was recently deactivated from the app.
“They call it deactivation, but we know the truth. It is firing without notice, without cause, and without a chance to fight back,” said William Medina, a deliverista for the past six years. “One click from Uber, Grubhub, DoorDash, or Relay can wipe out a paycheck and push us into poverty overnight. Hundreds of my fellow deliveristas face this every day.”
“Many of the deliveristas here behind me were left jobless without the opportunity to appeal, and many of them are now struggling to find a new job, struggling to pay rent, and some of them even got deactivated after getting injured,” said City Comptroller Brad Lander. “These companies are making record profits on back-breaking labor.”
“It is important that this build passes because people’s livelihoods are on the line. Pay the people what they want,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
