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Delivery Workers Can Make $7.09 An Hour. NYC is Changing That.

This summary about NYC delivery workers was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.

For years, New York City’s 65,000 app-based restaurant delivery workers have been excluded from the right to a minimum wage and health insurance because they’re classified as independent contractors and not full-time employees. NYC delivery workers make on average $7.09 an hour. 

Now, things are finally changing. Last week, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection proposed raising delivery workers’ average hourly minimum wage to $23.82 an hour by 2025 — one of the first plans in the U.S. to bump up pay to cover workers’ expenses and a lack of compensation insurance. 

But delivery workers are arguing the increases is still not enough to meet their real operating expenses. This week, they gathered outside New York City Hall with their supporters to demand an additional $5 increase in the planned wage, arguing an hourly rate of $28.82 would better account for expenses like gas and safety equipment. 

“Deliveristas are the lifeblood of our city’s economy,” said City Council member Shahana Hanif, chair of the Committee on Immigration. “DCWP’s Minimum Pay Proposed Rule is a good start, but I urge our city to listen to our deliveristas to understand what they need to do their jobs and adequately support their families. They deserve better.” 

A public hearing on the proposal is currently scheduled for December 16. 

Read more from Documented’s Amir Khafagy here to learn more about differing opinions on the proposal and efforts elsewhere in the country to address the low salaries of delivery workers. 

Thoughts on the Minimum Pay Proposed Rule or the rights of NYC delivery workers? Reply to this mail.

STORIES WE ARE FOLLOWING 

New York

For NYC migrants, just getting inside the immigration courthouse is a feat: Gothamist looks at the problems arising as the city grapples with a record high immigration court backlog exacerbated by the recent influx of migrants bused in from border states. –Gothamist

NYC’s immigrant families experienced higher rates of rent burden and overcrowded homes in 2021: A new report shows 52% of immigrant-headed households with children experienced rent burden in 2021, compared to 48% of such households headed by native-born New Yorkers. –City Limits

Randall’s Island migrant facility a “colossal waste of resources”: A video report outlines how housing for asylum seekers shifted to three places in the city in just over a month. –Newsy

Around the U.S. 

In a hotter, more crowded world, immigration will be inevitable: A new UN report predicts much of global population growth will occur in areas becoming too hot to be livable, leading to mass migration of people in search of kinder climates. –Quartz  

Two buses of migrants from Texas arrive in Philadelphia: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added the city to his target list of destinations six days before the first buses came. –The Philadelphia Inquirer 

Immigration could be a lifeline for shrinking small towns: If a growing population is necessary for a healthy economy, the U.S. may have to rely on immigration to deliver it in declining towns like Caruthersville, Missouri. –The Guardian

Washington D.C

Democrats confront bleak odds for immigration deal before 2023: Party leaders are pushing hard for legislation helping undocumented Dreamers before Republicans take the House, but GOP senators have little interest in it passing. –Politico

Biden admin. policy protects abortion access for unaccompanied immigrant youth: New guidance will ensures unaccompanied immigrant minors can access abortion while in shelters awaiting reunification with family in the U.S., a move the ACLU deems essential.  –ACLU

GOP sees smaller Latino vote gains in 2022 compared with 2018, but also painful candidate losses in high-profile races: Republicans had placed midterm hopes on a roster of Latina candidates nationwide that some predicted would yield sweeping GOP victories, but the verdict was mixed. –AP

SEE MORE STORIES
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