New York,.- The city of New York announced this Monday a pilot program to provide food deliverers, known as «deliverists»of a place of rest, where they can also recharge their phones and their electric bicycle, in addition to professional training.
It will be the first of its kind to open in the country, according to the City Council.
These places will be located in what used to be newsstands, which are closed and will have to be rehabilitated to adjust to the needs of these workers.
The first will be located a few steps from the Mayor’s Office but it is still unknown when it will be ready and, if the program is successful, it will spread throughout the city, where it is estimated there are more than 65,000 food deliverers, a large number of them immigrants. Latinos.
The idea was a proposal from the United Deliveristas group and assumed by the senator charles schumerwhich allocated 1.1 million dollars for the rehabilitation of the post as well as for a new headquarters for this group in Brooklyn, and which were announced this Monday at a joint press conference between the federal legislator and Mayor Eric Adams.
The dealers food companies, who work for mobile applications, have fought for various benefits in New York through the Workers Justice Project, which organized them, to improve their employment conditions after several colleagues died during assaults to steal their bikes and tips or get run over.
Among the measures approved by the Municipal Council are to be informed of customer tips, use the bathroom in restaurants where they pick up food, be able to establish certain distance restrictions or avoid delivery areas on their itineraries without suffering reprisals.
Also that the applications inform the delivery people the details of the route before they accept the delivery, pay them weekly and deliver an insulated bag of food after six deliveries, to which the center now adds.
“When I rode my bike alongside delivery drivers last fall, I made a commitment to fight for better infrastructure to meet their needs, including charging stations, shelters, rest areas and more,” Schumer, the Democratic Majority Leader, recalled Monday. the federal Senate.
For his part, Mayor Adams stressed that these delivery men “work hard every day” and that they are “essential to the way of life of New Yorkers and the city’s economy.”
He added that many workers in this city have a rest area during their working hours, which does not exist for deliverers.
“I am proud to partner with Majority Leader Schumer to create the nation’s first ‘Street Deliveristas Hubs’ that will eventually help serve the more than 65,000 food deliverers,” said Adams.
