Eric Adams announcing the raise. Image Credit: Sceenshot from NYC Mayor's Office
New York City is raising the state minimum wage for app-based delivery workers to $17.96 per hour, according to an announcement by Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday. The raise will affect more than 60,000 delivery workers in the city, according to a press release. Delivery workers in New York City currently earn an average of $7.09 per hour, the release states. This is largely due to the fact that most food delivery apps pay workers by the delivery, and often greatly rely on customer tips to be the workers’ main source of income. Motherboard has previously reported that DoorDashers, for example, only get paid $2 or $3 per delivery, and get about two-thirds of their income from customer tips. The new hourly rate of $17.96 goes into effect on Monday, June 12. The press release further states that the law will be fully phased on April 1, 2025, at which point the wage will increase to $19.96 per hour, for a total increase of almost $13 per hour. “Our delivery workers are tireless in keeping our city fed and moving,” Adams wrote on Twitter. “They deserve a raise.”
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New York is now the first city in the U.S. to implement a minimum wage for this industry, but this is the second attempt by the city’s labor and consumer agency to do so, as reported by The City. Its first unsuccessful attempt in November of last year sought a $23.82 minimum wage. Some, including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, are unsatisfied with the agreed-upon number. “City Hall acquiesced to the lobbying of billion $ app companies, delaying raises owed to deliveristas & padding corporate profits off the backs of some of NYC’s hardest working NYers,” Lander wrote in a statement on Twitter. ““Hidden under regulatory double-speak, the rule’s average base wage for a deliverista will be just $12.69 per hour after expenses this year, according to our office's calculations.” “Delivery workers should be paid at least the minimum wage after expenses, for every hour they work including the time spent waiting for their next delivery,” Landers’ statement continues. “Today’s watered-down rule fails to require that.”