App-based food delivery workers in New York City will earn $17.96 an hour before tips beginning July 12, an amount that takes into account their costs of operating, Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday afternoon.
With the rate, New York will become the first major U.S. city to establish and implement pay requirements for delivery workers toiling in the gig economy.
The hourly rate will increase to $19.96 before tips by April 1, 2025, the mayor said. The standard is a significant increase from the estimated $11 hourly workers currently earn after tips.
Because app-based delivery workers, currently estimated to number 60,000 in New York City, are classified as independent contractors and not employees, they are not currently entitled to a minimum wage. They also do not get reimbursed for expenses, such as purchasing insulated delivery bags.
The mayor made the announcement from the City Hall rotunda, flanked by Department of Consumer and Worker Protection commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga, lawmakers and workers with Los Deliveristas Unidos, the group that campaigned publicly for three years for better pay and working conditions, including the right to use the bathroom on the job.
Deliveristas members greeted leader Sergio Ajche with an ovation as he approached the dais on Sunday.
“I feel fortunate to have been one of the people who fought for a better life for ourselves, and so that delivery workers can be finally recognized and be treated to a life with dignity,” he said.
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