NYC food delivery gig workers score a big minimum wage victory
VergeJun 13, 2023
Starting on July 12, app-based delivery workers in New York City will have to be paid at least $17.96 an hour, not including tips, making the city the first to mandate a minimum wage for delivery workers in the country.
The new minimum is almost a three-fold increase of the current $7.09 average rate. NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who announced the move on Sunday, said that the minimum wage would affect all app-based restaurant delivery workers who work for companies such as Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash.
This pay increase is a win for workers as the price of living in New York City continues to rise and the gig economy continues to grow. Delivery workers have a tough job, and they deserve to be compensated fairly for their work. Though Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash agitated against the raise, effective organizations managed to help push the new minimum wage forward.
Though policies like this might seem like a good thing for workers, in reality, they actually hurt the economy, pushing the costs onto consumers who will consequently use their services less. Instead of working with delivery apps to find an effective solution, the city has acted unilaterally without any dialogue to prevent economic cascade effects.
There's a 50% chance that the US federal minimum wage will be raised by July 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.