African immigrants
NYC delivery workers organize
By Mary
Owen
New York
When Mamadou Camara, 30, immigrated to the United States, he
brought with him the spirit of a people's struggle that toppled
military rule in his home country of Mali. It was that
experience that led him, along with fellow African grocery
delivery workers, to organize a two-day strike in early
November to protest their exploitation by greedy delivery
companies.
About 100 of the city's estimated 500 grocery-store delivery
workers, mainly from West Africa, participated in the
courageous walkout. It cost some of them their jobs.
Carrying signs reading "We are slaves" and "Please help set
us free," they stood in front of the Food Emporium at 68th
Street and Broadway to tell customers about their low wages,
long hours and lack of benefits.
The delivery workers are from Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal,
Gambia, Ivory Coast, Burundi and other countries. They are
employed by subcontractors--like Hearthstone Delivery, Same Day
Express, Hudson Delivery and City Express. Operating with only
a post office box for an address, these fly-by-night companies
broker the workers' services to Food Emporium, A&P,
Waldbaum's and other big chain supermarkets for a profit.
Shoppers pay $2.25 per delivery to the grocery chain, which
in turn pays the delivery company. Little of that trickles back
to the workers.
"It's like slavery. We work 12 hours a day, six or seven
days a week for 50 cents to a dollar per delivery," Camara told
Workers World. "With tips, we can make $180 per week. But you
don't get good tips every day, and at some stores the tips are
not as good as others."
From this paltry amount, delivery companies skim an
additional $400-per-year "uniform and equipment" allowance from
each worker, ostensibly to cover the cost of a couple of white
shirts and a delivery cart. Under threat of being fired for the
slightest infraction, the workers are sometimes forced to bag
groceries in addition to trudging through the streets and up
flights of stairs in the city's wealthier neighborhoods to
deliver them--all for the same low per-delivery fee.
The delivery companies hire the workers as independent
contractors. "This is probably to get around the INS
[Immigration and Naturalization Service]," says Camara. "If we
were really independent contractors, we find it hard to believe
they could order us around like this."
The ploy also allows delivery companies to skirt labor laws,
as well as deny the workers health benefits and paid
vacations.
Scott Weinstein, the cutthroat owner of Hearthstone
Delivery, Same Day Express, and Hudson Delivery, showed his
contempt for the workers when interviewed by the New York
Times. "They make plenty of money. This strike is ridiculous,"
he said.
But what would Weinstein know? He and other delivery bosses
live far from the cramped quarters where the African delivery
workers live, trying to raise their families while attempting
to send money home to relatives.
By conservative estimate, the number of sub-Saharan Africans
living in New York nearly doubled from 44,000 in 1990 to 84,000
in 1996. "There are more than this now. Many have not been
counted," says Camara. As they struggle to learn English and
make their way in the city, these immigrant workers have begun
to organize and reach out for support.
Since their strike, Camara and other delivery workers have
been in touch with UNITE Local 169 of the Union of
Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. Local 169 has
experience organizing immigrant workers, including Mexican and
other Latin American workers, in the green-grocery and
restaurant industries.
"They are trying to help us start a union and an African
Workers Association," Camara explained. "Our strike was not
about winning. It was about struggling and seeing results over
time."
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
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