New York City’s food delivery workers are slated to make a minimum wage for the first time ever under new regulations announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday.
Tens of thousands of delivery workers are slated to make at least $17.96 per hour plus tips by July 12, and at least $19.96 an hour by 2025, city officials said.
That’s a sharp increase from what delivery workers make now. Many take home less than the city’s minimum wage of $15 an hour.
“The ones that bring you pizza in the snow, and that Thai food you like in the rain,” said Adams. “This new minimum pay rate will guarantee these workers, and their families, can earn a living. They should not be delivering food to your household, if they can’t put food on the plate in their household.”
The $19.96 hourly rate is less than the $23.82 the Department of Consumer and Worker Protections originally proposed last November – but is still almost three times more than what delivery workers currently make, according to the city agency.
Sunday’s announcement comes after months of back-and-forth between delivery workers, elected officials and app companies over the minimum wage rates. City officials blew past a Jan. 1 deadline set by City Council legislation to establish the new wage rules.
Delivery companies, like Uber and DoorDash, argued that the new legislation will force a raise in prices and less schedule flexibility, while some advocates claim these companies are manipulating employees into testifying against the measure.
Josh Gold, a spokesperson for Uber, said the city “isn’t being honest with delivery workers.”
“They are telling apps: eliminate jobs, discourage tipping, force couriers to go faster and accept more trips – that’s how you’ll pay for this,” Gold said.
DoorDash spokesperson Eli Scheinholtz said the company was considering litigation against the city over the new pay rules.
The new minimum pay rate, DCWP commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga said, “will ensure that they earn a better…
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