The Black women being left out of New York’s delivery debate
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OPINION: A New York business owner says her company employs more than 200 people and warns the proposal could eliminate flexible work opportunities.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
By now, we have all heard the devastating statistics about Black women and employment. The numbers are hard to ignore. The latest jobs report showed Black unemployment jumped to 7% in September, the fastest one-month increase since the pandemic. The increase was even more pronounced for Black women, whose unemployment rate rose from 5.9% to 7.3%, the highest level since February.
Even with these grim statistics, I have personally felt protected from these harsh realities. I am an Afro-Latina entrepreneur running a thriving business delivering packages across New York City. I always believed that a business is something no one can take away from you. Until now.
A potential new law aimed at delivery service providers in New York City is threatening everything I have built. Intro 518 would ban big companies from using independent contractors like me for last-mile delivery in the city. It would mean the end of my business, forcing me and hundreds of my employees into unemployment.
Black women are facing a worsening job market, and New York City should not pass a law that could make it harder for us to stay in the workforce.
More than 200 people work for my company, Brimela Routes Corp. Most are Black and brown, and many are immigrants, mothers, college students and older workers. Delivery work provides them with the flexibility a desk job wouldn’t, where they can care for their children or take more classes to learn English. For women of color who may face barriers getting hired elsewhere, these things matter.
I know what it means to work, raise a family and build a career at the same time. I moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States when I was 14 and became a mother at just 20. I later earned two master’s degrees and had a successful career in higher education.
My husband and I applied to become delivery contractors in 2020. I started operating Brimela later that year and delivered packages myself on the Lower East Side. I knew the neighborhood, but most importantly, I understood the lives of the workers I was hiring. Two years later, I left higher education to run it full time.
We are also entrenched in the communities we serve, which includes donating roughly $20,000 a year to organizations supporting women, including those who have experienced domestic violence.
I did what society tells us we’re supposed to do: work hard, go to school, and be of service to your community. I built something of my own and created jobs for people who needed them. I created my own American Dream, and my company helps my employees do the same.
I should not have to wonder whether the business I built will continue to exist because the city decided our roles weren’t needed. My employees shouldn’t either.
That is why I am asking the City Council to consider what happens to women like me if this law passes. Women of color, immigrants, and mothers already face one of the most brutal job markets in recent memory, with more barriers to employment than almost any other group. The delivery industry is one of the few that levels the playing field, creating opportunity for everyone.
Supporters of the law say it’s supposed to protect workers. But I believe it would have the opposite effect, greatly harming those who are most in need of employment protection.
Julissa Alvarez is the CEO of Brimela Routes Corp, a Manhattan-based delivery service.