The Contribution of the Latinx Immigrant Workforce to Staten Island’s Economy Before and During the Pandemic

Abstract

[Excerpt] New York City workers and communities have been weathering the impacts of a public health and economic crisis of unprecedented magnitude in U.S. history of the last 100 years. This report focuses on the experience of working- class immigrant workers in the County of Richmond, also known as Staten Island, as they endured the human costs of the COVID-19 crisis. This report provides the first analysis of the working and living conditions of working class immigrants in Staten Island, identifying their unique vulnerabilities, and highlighting their efforts to engage in mutual aid-support systems to weather the crisis. The research presented in the report results from the joint efforts of The Worker Institute and La Colmena Staten Island Community Job Center. La Colmena is a community-based organization working to empower day laborers, domestic workers, and other low-wage immigrant workers in Staten Island through educational, cultural, and economic development efforts. The findings of these report are based on worker surveys conducted by La Colmena organizers before and after the onset of the COVID crisis. The Worker Institute researchers provided technical assistance, analyzed survey and census data, and co-authored the report with La Colmena.StatenIslandLaColmenaFinalReport.pdf: 21 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020