oped letters & comments
A special food pantry was held on All Souls Day, Nov. 2, in the St. Helena parking lot, sponsored
by Senator Luis Sepulveda, Assemblywoman Karines Reyes and Councilman Rafael Salamanca,
Jr. PhotoS courtesy of St. Helena
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N BTR OVEMBER 20-26 13
BY GARY TALAMONE
Almost eight months ago,
I began driving for Uber Eats.
It was late March, COVID-19
was nearing its peak in New
York City, and Hostos Community
College, where I was
going to school, stopped letting
students attend in person.
Suddenly, so much of our
world changed. My two sons
began taking virtual classes,
while my wife continued going
to work at a private clinic
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the
week. Our family had to adjust
quickly and one of the changes
I made was to begin working
as a delivery worker using the
Uber Eats app in the Bronx.
I’ll be the fi rst to say Uber
Eats and similar companies
aren’t perfect. But when I
signed up to deliver with Uber
Eats, it quickly became a net
positive for me in a time of incredible
stress. Not only could
I bring in additional fi nancial
support to my family by doing
deliveries on weekends, but
I could utilize the fl exibility
this work allows to help my
sons with their remote learning
and juggle additional family
priorities. I also was able
to fi nd purpose in doing this
work because I could tell that
I was directly helping the people
who I was delivering food
to — many of them seniors
who were unable to leave
their homes.
Cut to Nov. 3. Proposition
22 passed in California and
the conversation around the
country and in New York immediately
picked up, as journalists,
politicians and seemingly
everyone on social media
began talking about what this
means for New York, where
gig worker classifi cation has
been a point of conversation
for the last few years. From
my perspective, Proposition
22 — which provides drivers
with benefi ts without requiring
them to become full time
employees for Uber, Lyft or
other app-based companies —
was a win for those workers.
Not only does it preserve the
fl exibility and independence
that drivers and delivery
workers want but now these
workers also get a higher wage
and other protections.
Being able to fi nd work
through a smartphone on your
own schedule and for as little
or as long as you want is a new
concept. It’s not like regular
jobs where you clock in and out
and have a boss and a set schedule
a week in advance. This opportunity
to have complete control
of your schedule is unique
and should be preserved. Finding
additional ways to provide
protections or a safety net that
makes sense for those who fi nd
fl exible work should also be explored.
If COVID demonstrated
anything, it was that too many
people in this country don’t
have very basic protections.
I hope that as our leadership
in New York picks back up the
conversation, they do so with
people like me in mind. Consider
ways to support workers
while also guaranteeing that
we can keep our fl exibility
and independence.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
Reality Check
Dear editor,
Two contributors to last
week’s BTR had diffi culty accepting
the results of the recent
election, much like the
soon-to-be ex-president. One
individual was concerned
about “the spread of communism”
and painted an apocalyptic
vision of the future,
since her preferred candidate
did not prevail. Ms. Silvestri,
in communist countries, the
will of the people is ignored,
but in our country when the
majority of voters choose a
candidate, that person wins
the position despite the misgivings
of reactionaries.
Another writer had the
insolence to characterize
14th District voters as “ignorant.”
She even maintained
that this district was “unrepresented,”
when in reality,
only her right-wing
views were not represented.
Ms. Parson, there was no
“socialist communist” on
the ballot but rather a progressive
Democrat who won
a lopsided victory, garnering
the vast majority of
votes cast by informed citizens.
In addition, there is
no such thing as a “socialist
communist,” they are two
different ideologies.
Sadly, some readers have
diffi culty facing the reality
that their conservative
views are out of favor with
most voters.
– Pasqual Pelosi
Courtesy of Gary Talamone
I am one of many Americans
and people worldwide who have
had it up to here with Trump’s
lies, especially re: the 2020 Election
results. He falsely says the
election was rigged against him.
So, I join with other critics in
saying: Produce the FACTUAL
evidence. Otherwise, take two
“pipe downs” and DON’T call
me in the morning!!
– Michael S. Wilbekin
NY should follow
Prop 22 model
St. Helena Gives Back
link
link
