Four food delivery services sued New York City Thursday over a new law that would raise the minimum wage for app-based delivery drivers, according to The Associated Press.
Uber, Relay, DoorDash and Grubhub filed three lawsuits to the state Supreme Court, with DoorDash and Grubhub filing jointly, to have a temporary restraining order placed to prevent a new minimum wage increase that is set to go into effect on July 12, according to the AP. The suit comes after Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced June 11 that delivery service companies will be required to pay NYC’s more than 60,000 delivery drivers a new minimum wage of $17.96 an hour, up from an estimated $7.09 currently. (RELATED: NYC Mayor Eric Adams Had A Fallen Cop’s Photo Printed Out So He Could Pretend He’s Been Carrying It For Years: Report)
“Bad policies cannot go unchallenged, and we will not stand by and let the harmful impacts of this earnings standard on New York City customers, merchants, and the delivery workers it was intended to support go unchecked,” a DoorDash spokesperson said in statements to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We – and others – clearly and repeatedly warned the city that using such a flawed process to underpin its rulemaking would have lasting and harmful impacts for all New Yorkers who use these platforms, but the approach that DCWP took was sadly not one that reflected this, and has left us no choice but to take our concerns to court.”
The instruction to raise the minimum wage for delivery drivers follows a September 2021 New York City Council order requiring the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to conduct a study on the pay and working conditions of app-based delivery workers to establish a minimum pay rate, according to an NYC press release.
The delivery companies argue that the new minimum wage will lead to a rise in costs for consumers and a loss of opportunities for workers, with DoorDash saying in a press release, “The impacts will be felt throughout the city: Dashers may see fewer opportunities to work when they choose, customers may be priced out of orders, and jobs at local restaurants may be lost — including many in low-income communities and communities of color.”
The new minimum wage rate is planned to start at $17.96 on July 12 and will increase to $19.96 an hour by April 1, 2025. After 2025, the rate will be adjusted based on inflation, according to the NYC press release.
New York’s food delivery apps are in a battle with the city over minimum wage rules. Uber, DoorDash and other app-based food delivery firms filed lawsuits, seeking to strike down a law that sets a minimum wage for delivery workers https://t.co/PdZW4CoyE6 pic.twitter.com/E3aKKf9ybI
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 7, 2023
DoorDash accuses the DCWP of using biased methods to create the outcome the DCWP desired in the study, according to a DoorDash press release. The company says the DCWP used an inaccurate sample of people to generate its findings, used leading questions in its survey, and selectively used data from the findings to confirm the wishes of the DCWP.
Adams’ office, Uber, Grubhub and Relay did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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