Deliveristas Protest Police Harassment in New York City

Forty members and supporters of Los Deliveristas, an organization of app-based delivery workers in New York City, gathered in front of City Hall on May 28 to protest what they claim is police harassment of their members. They came bearing banners in Spanish and English that read “We are Workers not Criminals.” Several New York City Council members came out of City Hall to join their protest and expressed their support.

At this press conference a spokesperson for Los Deliveristas said that their members had received over 1,000 criminal citations from the police in the last two weeks, following the NYPD’s decision on April 28 to crackdown on e-bikes that go through red lights. Deliveristas make deliveries via bike or scooter for platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Most are immigrants.

While in the past bike riders had just received tickets for traffic violations, they are now being issued criminal summonses and called to court. The policy change doesn’t affect car and truck drivers, who can pay their tickets online. Meanwhile, immigrant workers on the apps will have to take hours off work to appear in court in person.

“Immigrants are being targeted, because of their race,” said Cellou Balde, a West African immigrant and Deliverista activist. “Most delivery drivers are Black and Spanish, and we’re the ones being stopped.”

FEAR OF ICE

Many undocumented workers fear that if they go to court, they may be picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. The citations can also be used as evidence of criminal behavior to facilitate future deportations.

SUPPORT LABOR NOTES

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt.

One delivery worker who spoke at the rally said that he had received two dozen citations but insisted he had not done anything wrong. He led the group in chanting, “No more tickets,” and in Spanish, “No más repression, queremos solución” (“No more repression, we want a solution”).

“This policy isn’t about safety—it’s a trap to punish immigrant workers,” said Santos M., another Deliverista.

New York City has around 60,000 delivery workers who deliver food from restaurants or grocery stores to local residents. These workers are largely immigrants, mostly from Mexico or Central America, but also from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The workers are directed on their phones by electronic algorithmic platforms that tell them where to pick up and deliver, and often depend heavily on tips from customers.

The workers are pressed by the platforms to speed through the city in all weather. Accidents are not infrequent. In a City University of New York study released last year, 22 percent of delivery workers surveyed said they were injured on the job, while 21 percent said they had been assaulted. A report from the New York’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection in 2022 estimated the fatality rate among delivery workers at 36 deaths per 100,000, which would make it the city’s deadliest industry by far.

The Deliveristas have been fighting companies like DoorDash for higher wages and to stop what they say is large-scale wage theft. And now they’re fighting police harassment too.