New York City delivery workers will start making at least $18 an hour after a judge denied an attempt from three food delivery giants to block a New York City minimum wage bill from going into effect—delivering a victory for supporters of the first-of-its-kind law, which is the latest effort to regulate how gig workers are paid.
New York City has some 60,000 food delivery workers.
On Thursday, New York state Justice Nicholas Moyne dismissed Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub’s attempt to bar the city from implementing the rule—which mandates the companies pay food delivery workers a flat hourly rate of $17.96 or pay 50 cents a minute per delivery.
Moyne did, however, exempt Relay Delivery, a small delivery service company that joined the suit, from Thursday’s ruling, after the company argued it would be put out of business with the cost increase from the legislation.
The law was scheduled to go into effect July 12, but legal challenges delayed its start. Earlier this summer, Moyne temporarily halted the law from going into effect and allowed Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub to make additional filings in the case. The food delivery companies argued the added costs of higher wages could pass on additional costs to customers and restaurants and ultimately hurt opportunities for workers. Meanwhile, New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection argued the law would give delivery workers “fair pay for their labor.”
60,000. That’s how many food delivery workers New York City has, according to the New York Times. Those workers are paid an average of about $11 an hour with tips and expenses, the Times reported.
This is the country’s first minimum pay-rate for delivery workers, according to the Times.
N.Y. Judge Halts Law That Would’ve Raised Minimum Wage For App-Based Delivery Drivers In NYC (Forbes)
Doordash, Grubhub And Uber Eats Sue New York City Over Cap On Restaurant Fees (Forbes)