You may not realize it, but your UberEats courier faces great risks to deliver your chicken teriyaki. Delivery work has become one of the most dangerous professions due to road safety issues, unfair labor practices, and overwhelming pressure from employers’ algorithmic formulas.
A report from NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found that 36 out of every 100,000 delivery workers died on the job. That’s five times higher than the fatality rate of construction workers in New York City, an industry traditionally known for its workplace dangers.
These deaths have become so pervasive that New York City-based delivery worker Sergio Solano regularly posts about them on El Diario de los Deliveryboys en la Gran Manzana, a Facebook page that acts as an informative hub for NYC couriers. The page started out as a space for workers to connect over job-related issues, like alerting each other about bicycle theft and discrimination, but now it’s also a memorial site. When Epicenter spoke to Solano in October, he estimated that he’s posted at least 60 deaths since November 2020.
Christian Castelan, 21, was one of the many delivery drivers in NYC who died while on the job.
On July 3, 2022, Castelan was supposed to be heading to Upstate New York for a Fourth of July barbecue with family. He had just wrapped up a delivery gig for his uncle’s restaurant and was moving on to a new job when he was asked to cover one last shift.
Castelan never made it to the Fourth of July celebrations.
“I saw the news – I think on Channel 12 – that this accident happened over here. The girl hit a bicycle guy and he didn’t make it, but I never knew it was him,” recalls Lorenzo Carino, Castelan’s uncle.
Eventually, Castelan’s family were informed of what happened: A woman driving a stolen jeep in the Bronx sped off after an argument with her partner. Witnesses said she was going 60 to 80 mph when she flew through two stop signs, according to Castelan’s cousin Yanill Carino. Castelan was passing by on his bike when she ran him over and pinned him with a parked vehicle.
“He was pinned between the rims, metal to metal. When she pulled reverse, he fell on the floor [and] she hit him with the wheel on the head,” Lorenzo Carino said.
The driver fled the scene and Castelan died due to that head injury.
Yanill Carino describes her cousin as a hardworking kid who was the “the head of his family, the sole supporter of his mom and his siblings.” He was born in the U.S., raised in Mexico, and moved back to the States to support his family at 18. His family says his life was cut short not only due to his assailant’s reckless driving, but also because of his job’s unsafe conditions.
“A lot of accidents happen and people don’t get the justice that they deserve. It doesn’t matter that he was a bicycle driver, they still fled a scene without caring that they killed a person,” Yanill Carino said.
Castelan’s assailant was eventually arrested and his family is pushing for her to get the maximum penalty for the accident. The process has illuminated how confusing the fight for justice can be for those in similar situations.
“A lot of these families are immigrants and they don’t have an understanding of what’s going on in the justice system,” Yanill Carino said. “I was born here [and] I don’t really know so much about the laws or things that can help a family that’s going through what we’re going through.”
Los Deliveristas Unidos
Cases like Castelan’s represent larger issues affecting the delivery workforce as a whole.
“It’s not just that [it’s] one of the most dangerous and precarious industries, but it’s an industry where most workers – because they’re classified as independent contractors – can’t have the benefits and the protections that they deserve as essential workers doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the city,” said Ligia Guallpa, executive director at the Worker’s Justice Project (WJP), a Brooklyn nonprofit aiming to educate and empower low-wage immigrant workers.
Guallpa began organizing delivery workers through WJP in 2020, which resulted in Los Deliveristas Unidos, a union of app-based delivery workers in NYC. The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection estimates there are 61,000 app-based delivery workers. The workforce is mainly made up of people of color as well as immigrants.
The majority of the Los Deliveristas work for UberEats, DoorDash and Relay, though the union welcomes workers with smaller companies like Motoclick and Fantuan Delivery. The union has helped secure major labor wins, like setting a minimum wage with annual inflation adjustments. App delivery workers now make at least $19.56 hourly before tips; before they were averaging $5.39 per hour, according to the city. NYC delivery workers have also recently won guaranteed bathroom access, tip transparency, and a workers’ right to set a maximum distance per trip they travel.
Despite recent organizing successes, there is still much progress to be made. WJP’s 2021 survey of 500 delivery workers found that nearly 50% have been in an accident or crash while making a delivery. Of those workers, about 75% said they used their own personal funds to pay for injury medical care. Despite the high risk of injury, most delivery apps don’t offer their workers health insurance or worker’s compensation due to their gig worker status.
Algorithms set unrealistic work standards
Battling account deactivation is one of Los Deliveristas’ top priorities right now. That’s when app companies lock out couriers from the app, which means they’re no longer authorized to work. When delivery workers can’t keep up with the ever-increasing pace of the app’s algorithmic formulas, they risk getting deactivated and losing their jobs.
“Because the apps have altered the process for how delivery workers schedule shifts and receive order assignments while online – a process that can discriminate against some workers while favoring others – delivery workers have been pressured to accept those assignments requiring excessive effort or undue risk to avoid being deactivated,” explains a 2024 report from WJP and LDU.
“We’re seeing more and more how delivery companies are requiring workers to complete their delivery on unrealistic time frames right without taking into consideration the weather, the traffic, or other issues,” Guallpa said.
That includes setting up tracking systems that penalize workers.
“We have heard stories, for instance, of a member who was going to the bathroom and all of a sudden the app was continuously sending messages that he has not moved for over five minutes,” Guallpa said.
These unrealistic delivery standards not only cause dangers for delivery workers, but for anyone on the road.
Calls for better infrastructure
App pressures are “not forcing [workers] but incentivizing them to run red lights or ride the wrong way down the street,” says Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, an NYC nonprofit promoting “people-first street culture.”
When apps pressure workers to speed and weave through traffic to meet algorithmic demands, pedestrians feel caught in the crosshairs. Take for instance, a senior citizen who needs a little more time to cross the street, or daycare workers ushering toddlers to the park.
“As someone who bikes, I think it’s easy for a person on the bike to know ‘I’m not going to hit that person, I know exactly how fast I’m going’ but when you’re walking, it feels scary,” said Lind.
Some NYC politicians are pushing bills that would require all e-bikes and e-scooters be licensed and registered. Lind thinks that approach would do more harm than good, especially for low-income and/or undocumented riders.
“We have politicians trying to effectively ban e-bikes [and] just taking this reactionary approach instead of figuring out how we can use our roads holistically and share them,” she said.
Open Plans thinks some of these issues can be avoided by tweaking road infrastructure.
“Our position is basically every new bike lane should be two-way and if that’s the case then pedestrians know [bikes] could be coming from either direction,” Lind said. “It kind of sets the expectation and helps people understand how the road works better. “
They’ve also proposed making more lanes designated from specific vehicles.
“There would be a bike lane for acoustic bikes and other slower devices [and] an e-mobility lane for electric bikes and small mopeds,” explains Lind. “And then the travel lanes for cars and trucks.”
Lind says pushback around restructuring roads comes from a “cars are everything” mentality.
“I think a lot of people just kind of see what’s immediately in front of them and any change feels scary,” Lind said. “It’s hard for them to imagine what we could have.”
Customers Delivering Justice
If you’re reading this as a regular delivery customer, you may wonder ‘how can I better support delivery couriers?’ Try following the recommendations from Customers Delivering Justice, a campaign launched by Los Deliveristas to build partnerships between couriers and their customers.
“We encourage people to tip in cash, especially now that the app companies have completely removed the tipping option at the beginning of the order,” Ligia says.
“If you do tip on the app, communicate to delivery workers what their tip amount is so they can verify it and claim those tips back.”
Los Deliversitas also endorses ordering as locally as possible.
“If you have the opportunity to order from your own neighborhood, please do so because that reduces the ability for people to have to travel from one borough to another one in order to deliver your bagel,” Ligia says. “Then that’s also a way of supporting your neighborhood’s economy.”
Leaving a high rating on the app also makes a difference for workers.
“We really want to make sure people understand how this industry works and how app delivery companies are the ones who control and decide how unsafe or safe this work can be,” Guallpa said.
For delivery workers who are interested in learning more about Los Deliveristas, the union has WhatsApp and Facebook groups to hear more about organizing. Guallpa also extends an invitation to visit WJP in person at their Williamsburg office.
