Dear John:

I know many of you are preparing for the spread of coronavirus, trying to balance precaution and anxiety. I found this Q and A from Gothamist very helpful. [[link removed]] There’s good reason to wash our hands more often, be more thoughtful about interactions, and provide extra support to elderly or vulnerable loved ones -- but for most of us, there's no reason to stop going about our daily lives.

For most of us, if we feel sick, we can take a paid sick day. New York City law requires employers to grant five paid sick days to their employees. Many people can also work from home.

But those precautions exclude thousands of New Yorkers who make up the gig economy. Gig workers like food delivery app workers and Uber and Lyft drivers can’t “work from home,” and most of them don't have a single day of paid sick leave.

Gig workers are particularly vulnerable to contracting and spreading coronavirus because they interact with customers in person, AND they often can’t afford to stay home from work.

Gig economy companies like Uber, Lyft, Seamless, and DoorDash MUST take action to keep their workers, their customers -- and ALL New Yorkers -- safe and healthy. Join me in calling on these companies to give all their workers paid sick leave → [[link removed]]

SIGN ON [[link removed]]Especially in a time of public health crisis, financial instability, inadequate health insurance, and lack of paid sick leave are a danger to all of us.

The “flexibility” that gives gig workers the ability to choose their own hours -- and companies the ability to avoid paying for benefits -- is putting all of us at risk.

Low-paying jobs that do not provide health insurance or paid sick leave will lead many to continue working when they feel ill or fear becoming ill. None of us want the person who is giving us a ride, delivering our food, our cleaning our homes to be working while they are sick!

Working together with drivers who organized for change, we raised pay for Uber, Lyft, and other for-hire drivers and put hundreds of millions in the pockets of workers. But the majority of app-based workers still do not receive any paid sick days. That needs to change.

Food delivery workers, for-hire drivers, and other gig workers are on the frontlines of the coronavirus and response. Sign our letter and tell companies to take action NOW to live up to their public health responsibility → [[link removed]]

Efforts in Albany to reclassify these workers as employees who get sick leave and health insurance, as California recently did, are critical to make these stable jobs that can support families.

But the immediate crisis of the coronavirus outbreak calls for companies to take action now to protect vulnerable workers and the public from the spread of the virus. Sign our letter today! [[link removed]]

I’ll keep working to make sure our city and state stay on top of their responsibilities, that we have the health care infrastructure we need to test and care for people, are diligent about cleaning on trains, buses and in schools, and keep close tabs on cases to make the right call about if or when to close schools or other institutions.

And I know you’re working hard to do all you can to take responsibility, for your families, and in your workplaces, schools, and religious congregations.

Let’s make sure some of the nation’s biggest corporations take their responsibilities seriously as well.

Brad

P.S. For more on why gig workers are on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak, and how companies can act to keep everyone healthy, read my op-ed in the New York Daily News [[link removed]] .

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