New York City is set to establish a minimum wage rate for restaurant delivery workers.
In an announcement on June 11, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga said that New York City—famed as a place where many residents don’t mind having tiny kitchens because they’re used to having prepared foods delivered straight to their front doors––will become the first in the U.S. to have app-based delivery workers who can do their job and earn, at least, the minimum wage.
“App-based restaurant delivery workers serve our city in rain, snow, and extreme heat, only to earn less than minimum wage with no benefits,” Mayuga said during the press announcement for the new mandate. “Throughout the pandemic, they provided warm meals directly to our doors, helping so many of us to stay safe and healthy inside our homes and providing a crucial lifeline that allowed so many of our beloved restaurants to stay open for business during a time of such uncertainty.
“Ensuring these workers earn a dignified pay is an issue of equity. Like all workers, delivery workers deserve fair pay for their labor and to be able to support themselves and their loved ones. This new minimum pay rate will ensure they earn a better day’s pay while still allowing for flexibility for both apps and workers. When the rate is in full effect in 2025, these workers will make at least $19.96 an hour, guaranteeing New York City’s more than 60,000 app-based restaurant delivery workers a dignified pay rate and establishing pay equity with other workers who are protected by the minimum wage.”
“The commissioner is right,” Mayor Adams added when he came to the mic. The higher minimum wage for delivery workers is “…to ensure that no one is in our city hiding in the shadows of not being paid the minimum wage. It’s good for the economy, because when the ‘deliveristas’ are paid the right salary, they’re going to recycle the dollars back into the communities, they’re going to become a benefit to the city and not an inhibitor to the city.
“This is an exciting moment. It is something that we wanted to get right because New York City is setting the tone for across America.”
The more than 60,000 delivery workers who sign on with app-based delivery companies like UberEats, GrubHub, and DoorDash will get a pay increase starting July 12, from $7.00 an hour to $17.96 an hour. They are scheduled to get up to $19.96 an hour starting on April 1, 2025.
The wage increase is the end result of a three-year campaign led by the Los Deliveristas Unidos (LDU) collective, which joined with the Worker’s Justice Project to fight for the basic labor rights of delivery workers.
The city’s agreement that a pay increase was needed came as a result of a study, mandated by the City Council passage of Local Law 115, which required the DCWP to look at the average pay of app-based delivery workers and their working conditions.
“DCWP closely considered all comments submitted during the public comment period and established a final rate that will greatly increase workers’ incomes, while also being responsive to industry and worker feedback,” the city said in a statement. “The final rate also takes into account that, as independent contractors, delivery workers pay out of pocket for their expenses and do not have access to workers’ compensation insurance, or paid time off, and must pay more in Medicare and Social Security contributions.”
Food app companies are already vowing to fight the new minimum wage.
DoorDash deemed the new mandate “misguided.” The company released a statement saying, “While well-intentioned, the extreme final minimum pay rate announced today will threaten earning opportunities for the thousands of New Yorkers who are looking for ways to make ends meet, while also raising costs for customers, reducing orders for local restaurants and other businesses, and limiting tax revenues for the city. The minimum pay rate far exceeds the standards that apply to nearly every other industry.”
Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker’s Justice Project, said, “This rule will set the pay floor for all the essential deliveristas who work tirelessly––whether through a pandemic, a snowstorm, or wildfire smoke––and who have been denied a living wage for far too long. Now, these workers who keep millions of New Yorkers fed will know they can keep their own families fed, too. While there’s still work to do, a minimum pay rate for food delivery workers will transform the lives of thousands of families across the city and deliver long overdue justice for deliveristas.”