Last night, after years of organizing work led by groups like the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Los Deliveristas Unidos, the New York City Council extended just cause protections to app-based ridehail and delivery workers. Following is a statement from Dan Ocampo, staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project:
“In a good-jobs economy, all workers are protected against arbitrary and unfair firings, including the Uber and Lyft drivers and app-based delivery workers who keep New York City running every day.
“That’s why the passage of both Int. 276 and 1332 today is such an important victory—extending just cause protections to drivers and delivery workers who are routinely getting fired without notice, an explanation, or a right to appeal.
“Both bills extend the just cause protections the city already enacted for fast food workers in 2021. The success of that law has proven that these protections work, offering some stability to workers without harming business.
“Today, the City Council took an important step towards making app-based jobs good jobs in New York.”
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The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting underpaid and unemployed workers. NELP is the leading national nonprofit working at the federal, state, and local levels to create a good-jobs economy. For more about NELP, visit www.nelp.org.
