Some food delivery workers in The Big Apple will soon make nearly triple their earnings under a new minimum pay-rate approved over the weekend.
On Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams announced app-based food delivery workers in New York City will receive pay raises starting next month.
Effective July 12, minimum wage of Manhattan’s estimated 60,000 food delivery workers will increase from $7.09 per hour to $17.96 per hour, Adams said.
According to a news release from the city, the new pay-rate will allow workers to eventually earn almost $20 an hour in April 2025 ($19.96).
“Our delivery workers have consistently delivered for us − now, we are delivering for them,” Adams said in a statement. “This new minimum pay rate, up by almost $13.00 per hour, will guarantee these workers and their families can earn a living, access greater economic stability, and help keep our city’s legendary restaurant industry thriving.”
The move will “improve the lives and economic potential” of more than 60,000 New Yorkers, said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer.
“Delivery workers have kept New Yorkers nourished through the most perilous of conditions, delivering food right to our doors throughout the pandemic and unprecedented weather conditions in the past,” Torres-Springer said.
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Pay also adjusted for inflation
According to the city, delivery apps will have flexibility in how they pay workers the new rate. As long as workers make the minimum amount, apps can choose to pay them by trip, per hour worked or through their own method.
The city also said pay will be adjusted annually for inflation.
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‘We did it’
The approval comes on the heels of a nearly three-year battle from the Workers Justice Project to increase the minimum wage for delivery-app drivers. The group focuses on creating better working and living conditions for low-wage essential and migrant New Yorkers.
“We did it,” the group tweeted Sunday after the city’s announcement. “Our fight has always been about the people who run New York City. We won and we will continue to organize with love.”
According to its website, Customers Delivering Justice is a campaign by Los Deliveristas Unidos working to build a partnership between city residents who use delivery apps including DoorDash, Uber Eats and GrubHub and the workers who deliver for them “to secure a responsible and ethical way to order in.”
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
