INSIDE
December 2023
Should I File for Bankruptcy Before or After the Holidays? ...12
Do You Eat With Your Eyes, Your Gut or Your Brain? ...16
Issue #51
Tips Tricks Dampen Delivery Worker Celebration of New $18-an-Hour Wage
Potential Strike Authorized For 20,000 NYC Commercial The new wage, which went into Cleaners effect on Monday and will in-
BY CLAUDIA IRIZARRY APONTE THE CITY
crease $19.96 an hour by 2025, accounts for workers’ costs of operating, including vehicle and insurance costs. Because the apps classify delivery workers as independent contractors and not employees, they are not currently entitled to a standard minimum wage. The city’s tens of thousands of delivery workers previously earned an estimated $11 hourly on average. For the workers organizing under the banner of Los Deliveristas Unidos, a group of mostly
F
ood delivery workers in New York City are now earning a mandated minimum $17.96 an hour before tips, following months of unsuccessful legal challenges by delivery platforms DoorDash, Uber and Grubhub. But a sudden coinciding move by the affected apps to change how customers can tip is taking money back out of their pockets, the workers say — and the city’s labor enforcement agency says it’s reviewing the situation.
A food delivery guy deliver food using bicycle at Times Square with mask, Midtown, Manhattan, USA Editorial credit: CHOONGKY / Shutterstock.com
continued on page 4
Hot Topics and News You Should Know About
Editorial credit: 32BJ SEIU
N
ew York, NY : On December 20, an estimated 10,000 32BJ SEIU members rallied at 6th Ave & 50th St. to demand that the Realty Advisory Board agree to a new contract for 20,000 commercial cleaners, porters and handypersons across the city that includes fair wage increases, fully employer-paid health care for families and no continued on page 10
NYS Healthcare Workers Raise Alarms on Staffing Crisis ...5
Paralegals Have an Excellent Employment Outlook ...20
What Are the True Costs of Selling a Home? Let's Take a Look ...12
Credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com
Gratitude and Hope: Celebrating the Strength of AFT ...3
Editorial credit: a katz / Shutterstock.com
Editorial credit: OogImages / Shutterstock.com
Labor-Related News - Nationally & Locally
Teachers Union Sues Mayor Adams to Stop Budget Cuts ...7
AG James Secures $10,000 for Dance Company Workers ...9
The Holidays can be a Time to Reflect and Find Meaning in Loss ...21
Dealing with a New Mother-in-Law ...19
States Facing Worker Shortages Are Helping Migrants Secure Employment with New Resource Clinics BY KEN HUDSON, IMMIGRATIONIMPACT.COM
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any migrants, after being released from government custody, resettle in interior communities. These individuals and families often need immediate continued on page 13
Brian Figeroux, Esq.