New York City Council expected to pass bill offering protections for delivery app workers
The New York City Council passed several new bills Thursday before the clock resets Jan. 1.
One they are expected to pass offers protections for delivery app workers. Under the new law, employers would be forced to stop firing those workers without cause.
Delivery apps must tell workers why they're being deactivated
Councilmember Justin Brannan said his measure, Intro 1332, delivers fairness and recourse.
"Workers for these apps, the delivery apps, are just getting booted off of the service without any reason why," he said.
Under the law, delivery app companies can only deactivate workers' accounts for a stated reason, workers must get 120 days of notice before permanent removal, and workers are allowed to appeal.
"This changes that to treat them like workers, and then, OK, if there's an issue ... then you need to tell us why there's an issue and what's going on that I'm being deactivated," Brannan said.
CBS News New York reached out by phone and email to some of the top delivery apps, including DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats. Of those, a spokesman for Uber said, despite having some issues with other City Council proposals, "We are not opposed to 1332."
The other companies have not yet gotten back to us.
"It's very frustrating"
Brannan was joined by delivery workers at a rally near City Hall on Thursday.
Among them was former food delivery worker Antonio Martinez-Solis, who said after six years peddling for a popular app, his account was suddenly deactivated.
"They didn't give me an explanation," he said in Spanish. "It's very frustrating because when we try to enter an appeal, it tells you the appeals process is over."
Now, Martinez-Solis is forced to job hunt.
"I have to look for something, dishwasher in a restaurant, because we can't just sit with our arms folded and do nothing," he said in Spanish.
Bill calling for more food vendor licenses also passes
The City Council also passed a bill that would allow thousands more food vendors to operate across the five boroughs.
The Street Vendor Reform package calls for an additional 2,200 licenses each year through 2031. It also adds more than 10,000 licenses in 2027 for general merchandise.
Many of these workers have long struggled to obtain a license and have been pushing for change. Advocates also say they are among the most vulnerable to recent immigration policies.
"The bills we are voting on today represent major steps forward for some of the most vulnerable workers in our city," Councilmember Julie Menin said. "This is the first expansion of licenses for general vendors since the 1970s."
The legislation also expands training and increases inspections.
It's unclear at this time if Mayor Eric Adams will sign the bills before he leaves office.