(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 on delivering to us, and now we too can finally be indebted to them,” said the Democratic mayor of the 8.5 million megacity. residents, 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.
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 indispensable 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 notably judged that the city was relying on “biased and unreliable” surveys of delivery workers.
According to the city’s study, published in November 2022, delivery workers then earned on average $14.18 an hour including customer tips, but only $7.09 without tips, from which $3.06 had to be subtracted. costs not covered.
