It’s a good time to work in New York City, as Mayor Eric Adams has just announced a huge increase in the minimum wage. Here’s the full story.
Mayor Eric Adams Makes Historic Minimum Wage Announcement
On Tuesday, April 2nd, Eric Adams announced a historic change to the minimum wage that is set to benefit thousands of gig workers. Standing alongside workers from the New York Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), Adams announced that all app-based restaurant delivery workers will now earn $19.56 per hour before tips.
This new wage will go into effect by April 1st, 2025, and is being phased in with two scheduled pay increases. It’s well over New York City’s minimum wage and will be adjusted for inflation come April 2025.
Progressive Initiative
New York made history as the first nation to offer minimum pay for delivery workers in June 2023, at $17.96. This new wage is an almost 9% pay bump – essentially $1.50 an hour. In announcing the news, Adams stated, “Our delivery workers have consistently delivered for us, and today we are delivering for them.”
This pay rise will improve the lives of 60,000 delivery workers in the city and is part of a broader effort by New York to address delivery issues since e-bikes became legal in 2020. That, coupled with a surge in app-based delivery services over the pandemic, created a surge in delivery workers, which the city is trying to regulate.
Adams has recently announced city-wide charging stations for e-bikes and the creation of the Department of Sustainable Delivery to regulate them, as well as trucks, scooters, and mopeds. The city is also in the process of creating “Street Deliveristas Hubs,” which will provide a rest stop for delivery workers, shelter from bad weather, and charging stations for electric bikes and cell phones.
Challenges and Pushback
Adams planned to revamp disused newsstands and other preexisting infrastructure to house these hubs, although local residents have expressed some resistance to this plan. Before the June 2023 pay rise, delivery workers were earning, on average, $5.39 an hour. At the time, Adams said, “That’s unimaginable. This is crumbs compared to the endless buffet of profits delivery apps made.”
After the DCWP began enforcing the new minimum wage, apps have had to collectively pay delivery workers over $16 million extra per week.
“The minimum pay rate has been enormously successful in raising wages for our city’s delivery workers and providing them greater means to support themselves and their families,” said the DCWP commissioner.
Enforcement Measures
The DCWP requires delivery apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Doordash to provide them with monthly reports containing stats about workers and deliveries made to ensure they comply with the new measures. While opponents of the minimum wage were worried that it would negatively impact customers, restaurants, and companies, the Mayor’s Office has confirmed that there have been no negative impacts so far.
Delivery apps, however, are not advocates for the minimum wage. In July 2023, they sued New York City to prevent them from implementing the new pay rate. However, the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city.
This hasn’t stopped apps from fighting back, however. According to delivery workers, apps have begun hiding the button that lets customers leave a tip and have been more active in deactivating workers’ accounts.
In response, Adams said, “Listen, we know the games that are being played to take away the tips. But we’re saying, ‘Let’s stop those games.”
Consequences for Restaurants
Some restaurants have also complained about the new wages for delivery workers. They claim they’ve seen fewer orders as customers react to higher prices in the apps.
This is a claim that DCWP commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga refuted, stating, “It’s working out. The workers are making more money as they should at a dignified pay rate, the restaurants are not seeing less deliveries, and consumers are not spending money money.”
The post Mayor Eric Adams Raises Minimum Wage for New York City Delivery Workers first appeared on Pulse365.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / lev radin.