NYC Approves Minimum Wage Increase of Nearly $18 an Hour for Food Delivery Drivers

NEW YORK — New York City’s more than 60,000 food delivery drivers who work for mobile apps like Uber Eats, doordash either grubhub As of July 12, they will have an increase in their minimum wage of $17.96 per hour plus tips. This after the City Hall approved on Sunday a new law that, also known as “deliverists“They had been demanding for months.

In addition, wages will increase to $19.96 an hour starting April 1, 2025. They currently earn an average of $7.09 an hour, Mayor Eric Adams and DCWP Commissioner Vilda announced Sunday. Vera Mayuga.

This is a reduction from the original plan that called for these workers to be paid $23.82 an hour.

After the news, dozens of delivery men, mostly Latin Americans, met on Sunday at the Mayor’s office to celebrate the measure shouting “Yes, it was possible.”

“This new minimum wage (…) will ensure that these workers and their families can earn a living, access greater economic stability and help our city’s legendary restaurant industry continue to prosper,” said the mayor of the Big Apple, Eric Adams, at a press conference in which he celebrated the approval of the standard.

For its part, the Workers Justice/Proyecto Justicia Laboral group, one of the main promoters of the law and one of the groups that represents food delivery workers in the city, also praised the achievement.

“We have done it. Our fight has always been for the people who make New York City work. We have won and we will continue to organize with love. This is only the beginning. The fight continues,” the organization wrote on its profile. Twitter official.

Likewise, Manny Pastreich, president of the 32BJ SEIU union, which represents 175,000 members of the service sector in twelve states of the country, was also satisfied with the new regulation.

“After feeding the city during and after a global pandemic, it’s about time delivery drivers finally got paid. This victory is recognition of the vital role these hard-working New Yorkers have played and continue to play in the economy. local in our city,” he said.

Currently, the salary of the delivery men is practically limited to the tips they receive from the clients and according to workers justicethey have to make an initial investment of about $10,000 to start working as delivery drivers and between $500 and $1,000 per month for other needs that are not covered by the applications.

A statement from the Mayor’s Office points out that to set the rate, it was also taken into account that the drivers are considered “independent contractors”, that is, “they pay their expenses out of pocket, they do not have access to labor compensation insurance, nor on time paid freelance and must pay more in contributions to Medicare and Social Security”.

The norm states that the salary paid must include both the delivery time and the time in which the delivery person is waiting for a new order or order.

According to the note, on average, a worker spends 60% of his day delivering and 40% waiting for new orders. For example, on a given day, a worker might be on call waiting for travel offers for four hours and making deliveries for six hours. If that worker’s application only pays for travel time, the worker would earn $179.60 based on the travel time rate when the rate goes into effect in 2023. If, instead, the worker’s application pays for both travel time and on-call time, the worker still earns $179.60. These per minute rates are approximate. The apps would have to calculate the exact payment according to the rule.