This summary was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
After two years of organizing under Los Deliveristas Unidos to fight for dignity and basic workplace protections, new legislation passed to protect New York City app delivery workers is going into effect today. Delivery apps are now required to have a license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to operate in New York City — the first part of a collection of legislation regulating and enforcing new labor standards for delivery workers. Delivery workers gathered in Times Square on Sunday afternoon for a press conference with state officials to celebrate the enactment of the new labor protections.
In other local immigration news…
Bronx apartment fire underscores immigrants’ experiences in New York City
The death of 17 people, most of them from the Gambia, in an apartment fire in the Bronx reflects the city’s history of failing to provide migrants with affordable and safe housing. As renters in the city, the immigrants expected basic amenities including heat, water, light, and functioning exits in case of emergencies like the fire outbreak. But instead, they lived in a building that racked up more than 200 complaints since 2010, ranging from rodent infestations to malfunctioning safety doors. Cold temperatures also forced a family to run a space heater for days beside a child’s bed, and eventually, a fire destroyed the community. The New Yorker
In case you missed it: Advocates call on Gov. Hochul to expand Excluded Workers Fund
📍Documented Original
Advocates are calling on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to expand the Excluded Workers Fund by $3 billion. The Fund the Excluded Workers coalition is also demanding a permanent unemployment insurance alternative for undocumented workers and others excluded from unemployment benefits. They shared stories of would-be beneficiaries of the fund who had missed the opportunity to apply, or were left with pending applications after the program ended. The coalition is pushing for health insurance for undocumented immigrants, minimum wage for tipped workers, passage of the EMPIRE Worker Protection Act, and passage of bills which would lift the state’s cap on street vending permits. Documented
