Like many big cities, New York teems with delivery workers who bring takeout, groceries, and any number of other things to anyone with a cellphone. They work at all hours and in all conditions, often without job security, health insurance, or even access to safe restrooms. They are often hit by cars, assaulted, or robbed. Many of them are Indigenous people from Guatemala and Mexico who left home to escape violence and the impacts of climate change.
The worst impacts of that global crisis add to the risks those workers face.
“When the city is hit with with massive snowstorms, floodings, or the recent smoke fires, many deliveristas are the ones who are on the front lines doing this work and responding to the climate crisis in order to take care of New Yorkers,” said Ligia Guallpa, who is Kichwa and the co-founder and executive director of the Worker’s Justice Project and Los Deliveristas Unidos. The organization organizes app-based delivery workers and advocates on their behalf. “But the reality is that often ... Read more
