NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection decreased a proposed minimum wage for more than 60,000 New York City app-based delivery workers from $23.82 to $19.96 per hour on Tuesday.
If implemented, the rule would take effect over the course of the next two years starting at $17.96 per hour and rising to $19.96 per hour with an additional adjustment for inflation, according to the DCWP.
The agency proposed the $23.82 wage in November in compliance with a 2021 law passed by City Council to establish a minimum wage for app-based delivery workers.
DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga cited workers’ use of multiple delivery apps simultaneously as the reason for the rollback.
Comptroller Brad Lander, who sponsored the bill when he was a City Council member, criticized the rollback and delays to the minimum wage’s implementation.
“The proposed rule fails to guarantee workers the dignity of the City’s minimum wage, but that hasn’t stopped app companies from lobbying to erode wages further,” said Lander. “DCWP should not give in to corporate bullying. The delivery workers who were so critical to our city during the pandemic deserve their due now.”
City Council mandated the DCWP implement the minimum wage by Jan. 1, but the agency has repeatedly delayed to conduct further studies.
“Every day deferred violates the law and the rights of some of New York City’s most essential and excluded workers,” said Lander. “The only thing that has come out of this prolonged process is the weakening of standards at the behest of massive Silicon Valley gig companies.”
The DCWP plans to hold a public hearing on the rule on April 7.
“Restaurant delivery workers work long hours at all times of the day, often facing difficult working conditions, to deliver warm meals to our doors, even throughout the pandemic, which also provides a vital lifeline for our city’s restaurants,” said DCWP Commissioner Mayuga. “Delivery workers, like all workers, deserve fair pay to support themselves and their families.”
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