(New York) Three delivery platforms, Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub, failed on Thursday to have a minimum wage measure that New York City wants to impose for bicycle delivery workers, who have become essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, suspended in court. 19.
“In rain, snow, hail or heat, they never give up delivering to us, and now we too can finally be indebted to them,” said the Democratic mayor of the megacity of 8.5 million. residents, Eric Adams.
PHOTO JEENAH MOON, NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
New York Mayor Eric Adams
This “decent salary” is “a considerable step forward which will lead to enormous changes” for delivery workers, Gustavo Ajche, leader of the “Los Deliveristas Unidos” delivery workers movement, also rejoiced on X (ex-Twitter).
For its part, the meal delivery platform DoorDash described, via a spokesperson, the decision of the Supreme Court of the State of New York as an “extremely disappointing result”, judging that “such an extreme rate of remuneration will reduce opportunities and increase costs for all New Yorkers.”
Uber, Doordash and Grubhub can appeal the decision, which rejects their appeal to suspend the measure.
After a long study and consultation, the city of New York announced in June the establishment of an hourly minimum wage of $17.96, increased to $19.96 in 2025, then adjusted according to inflation, for the approximately 60,000 bicycle delivery workers working for meal delivery applications.
The city claims a first in the United States, against a backdrop of recurring debate on the model of the “gig economy”, because the workers do not have the status of employees, nor the rights who accompany them.
In New York, delivery workers, also called “deliveristas”, because they are mainly immigrants from Latin American countries, were celebrated at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, becoming essential while restaurants, bars and businesses were closed in “the city that never sleeps”.
But the platforms, which pay delivery people by the trip, took legal action, delaying the entry into force of the measure, initially scheduled for July 12. Doordash judged in particular that the city was based on “biased and unreliable” surveys of delivery people.
According to the city study, published in November 2022, delivery workers then earned on average $14.18 per hour including customer tips, but only $7.09 without tips, from which $3.06 had to be subtracted. costs not covered.