22 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 18, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
DELIVER How grocery delivery app workers are
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN AND
GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th is is the fi ft h and fi nal installment in
Schneps Media’s fi ve-part series examining
the proliferation of grocery delivery
services across the city, and how they treat
their fl eet of delivery workers.
Last year, as the pandemic swept New
York City for the fi rst time and forced
businesses to close temporarily or altogether,
there was one industry that
seemed to be perfectly suited to survive:
food delivery.
Demand for grocery delivery through
apps like Instacart soared, and Bronxbased
giant Fresh Direct launched an
express delivery option, where customers
could choose from a limited number
of products available in just a few hours.
New Yorkers were also ordering more
meals through apps like Uber Eats and
DoorDash to get meals from restaurants,
which were largely pick-up and delivery
only.
New quick-commerce grocery delivery
apps are at the nexus of those two markets.
Companies like JOKR, Gorillas and
Fridge No More have expanded rapidly
in the last year as they fi lled the demand
for groceries delivered within 15 minutes
of placing the order via an app, with low
or nonexistent delivery fees and no order
minimums.
At the center of all of those businesses
are the delivery workers. Couriers zipping
by on electric bicycles with insulated
bags strapped to their backs have become
ubiquitous in the city in the last decade,
and now passers-by might be seeing a
host of new uniforms and branded e-bikes
as quick-commerce apps continue their
steady march forward.
Employees, not contractors
Th ose uniforms and e-bikes mark a
stark contrast between apps like JOKR
or Gorillas and apps like UberEats. Th e
majority of delivery workers who deliver
for UberEats and DoorDash are contracted
or “gig” workers — essentially freelancers.
Th ey pick up work when it’s available,
but aren’t employed by the company formally
— there’s no time off , benefi ts, or
guarantee of hours, wages or tips.
At most of the new grocery delivery
apps, couriers are full- or part-time
employees, with set schedules and, in
some cases, benefi ts.
“Unlike many delivery and on-demand
service companies, all our workers are
full-time and part-time W2 workers who
are provided minimum wage on an hourly
basis,” a Gorillas spokesperson said.
“On top of that, they receive 100% of their
digital tips at the end of each month, and
customers are made aware of this at every
transaction. In addition to compensation,
they’re entitled to workplace benefi ts, paid
breaks in compliance with local regulations,
and the opportunity to return to the
warehouse to refresh aft er each delivery.”
Gorillas riders are also provided with a
company e-bike and gear including helmets,
riding gloves and a vest, according
to their website.
Couriers for JOKR are also employees
with benefi ts, co-founder Tyler Trerotola
told Schneps Media, and the company has
made an eff ort to be “employee fi rst.”
“We’ve made a conscious decision that
we want these employees to have benefi ts.
We want them to feel part of the company,”
he said. “Th e nature of this business
is very much a consumer-focused business.
It’s very much about experience.” He
added that having happy employees is not
only benefi cial to those employees; it also
furthers the customer experience.
Dangers on the job
Demand for fair working conditions and
more protections under the law exploded
last year, driven mostly by Los Deliveristas
Unidos, a collective comprised mostly of
immigrant delivery workers who banded
together as they worked long, diffi -
cult hours through the pandemic without
the protection or hazard pay off ered to so
many essential workers.
Even outside of working long hours
in the cold, without the guarantee of an
hourly minimum wage or tips, the job
is dangerous. Many workers are hit and
injured by cars while riding through the
streets, and their electric bicycles — which
can cost up to $2,000 – are oft en the target
of violent theft s. Last month, 51-yearold
Sala Uddin Bablu, who was working
for Grubhub, was murdered while sitting
in a lower Manhattan park during a shift .
Manny Ramirez, a delivery worker and
organizer with LDU, helped his fellow
workers fi x their brake pads and make
other repairs on their bicycles at a vigil
and bike tune-up on Tuesday. He was
assaulted twice this year, he said, once
violently.
He immediately called LDU’s policy
director Hildalyn Colón Hernández and
the police, he said, who came immediately
to take a report. In the past – before the
Deliveristas had gained so much attention
— it was hard to be taken seriously.
“Calling 911 for any emergency, they
never came,” he said. “If they did come,
they refused to write a report.”
Protections for workers
Th e biggest accomplishment, though,
has been the passage of a package of bills
promising more protections in the City
Council, including requiring companies
to provide their delivery workers with
the insulated bags they need for delivery;
mandating that restaurants allow gig
workers to use their restrooms; allowing
delivery workers to set limits for how far
Race to Deliver
Photos by Gabrielle Holtermann
THE RACE A Gorillas courier arrives at the warehouse in Chinatown after delivering groceries.
TO
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