COVID and the Risky Immigrant Workplace: How Declining Employment Standards Socialized Risk and Made the COVID-19...

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Public Health
• Immigration Studies

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing vulnerabilities among immigrant workers.
• NYC taxi drivers, a significant immigrant workforce, faced unique challenges during the pandemic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the concentrated impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant taxi drivers in NYC.
• To analyze how precarious employment and welfare state changes shaped their pandemic experiences.

Main Methods:

• Ethnographic research with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (2 years).
• Formal interviews and an original survey of 1,002 union members.
• Analysis of the work-citizenship nexus and its role during the crisis.

Main Results:

• Immigrant drivers experienced heightened health, economic, bureaucratic, and immigration uncertainties.
• Unequal access to pandemic support was linked to precarious work and immigrant status.
• Weaker community ties to institutions hindered virus containment, posing broader societal risks.

Conclusions:

• The study introduces 'uncertainties' as a concept to explain socio-cultural aspects of social reproduction crises.
• Findings highlight how welfare state decline and immigrant status intersect, creating an underclass.
• Addressing precarious employment and supporting immigrant communities is crucial for public health and social stability.