The lox we are the streets zip ghost
You never know who's going to be trying to steal your bike - maybe somebody with a gun.ĪLLYN: He's never been held up at gunpoint, but the uptick in robberies and injuries led Ache to help form a group called the United Delivery Workers. Ache says now during late night shifts, delivery workers will cross bridges in large packs to ward off would-be thieves.ĪCHE: You never know who going to confront. LEE: What they have to pay out of pocket - the robberies and assaults that they experience, the broken leg that they got while delivering.ĪLLYN: A recent survey of 500 delivery workers conducted by the Workers Justice Project and Cornell University found that more than half have gotten into an accident or crash while doing a delivery, and about half have had their bike stolen. But what's not listed on the bill is the human toll on the worker.ĪLLYN: Do Jun Lee is an urban studies professor at Queens College who has extensively studied the city's delivery workers. But things don't always go this smooth.ĭO JUN LEE: When the customer sees their bill from, like, Grubhub or DoorDash, you know, they see different fees and costs of the items and the tip. How are you doing? Here you go.ĪLLYN: And we're off to the next delivery. Go up to the eighth floor and knock on the door of the person who ordered the burger by tapping on his phone a few times.ĪCHE: Hi. We arrive at a condo building, tell the door guy what we're doing.ĪLLYN. There is a bus that nearly hit us a few moments ago. We just had to curve around a parked ambulance. I'm being powered by my legs, and he's got an e-bike that goes up to 30 miles an hour, so it's got a bit of an edge on me.īiking in Manhattan is always a little hectic but especially so when you are flying. Taking a turn now - where are we? Church Street.
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Someone ordered a single cheeseburger for dinner. That's what they send to you.ĪCHE: Sad because you're working for them.ĪLLYN: To see what it's like to work for a delivery app, I followed Ache. He notified the apps.ĪCHE: If you need assistance, we can call 911, but that's the best thing we can do for you.
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Last year, Ache fell after his bike wiped out on black ice. But he's given little support if his bike breaks or if he's robbed or injured. He got laid off from his food delivery job during the pandemic and started delivering food for apps like DoorDash and Grubhub.ĪLLYN: He says he swapped his human boss for something else.ĪCHE: Patron fantasma - it's like a ghost boss.ĪLLYN: Ghost boss - that's what Ache and his friends call the food delivery apps monitoring their every move and pressuring them to go faster and faster to hungry customers waiting for their orders.
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GUSTAVO ACHE: Now I'm going to connect it to the app, so we're going to start working.ĪLLYN: Ache's story is familiar - an immigrant from Guatemala, father of two. He's making sure his e-bike is charged up and mounting his phone on his handlebars. NPR's Bobby Allyn delivered food with one of the workers to understand the challenges they face.īOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: I meet Gustavo Ache (ph) in Lower Manhattan. In New York, food delivery workers zip around on electric bikes, adding to already chaotic streets.