New York City Delivery Workers Struggle to Navigate New Wage Rules
In a city where over 100 million food delivery orders are placed each year, delivery workers are facing uncertainty and challenges due to a new wage formula implemented to ensure they earn at least $18 an hour. The major app platforms have responded to this change by limiting workers’ hours, making it harder for customers to tip, and altering how pay is calculated, leaving workers like Greiber Pineda confused and struggling to adapt.
Pineda, who initially benefitted from the new wage system, found himself earning less after the app changed its pay structure, leading him to seek additional income from side hustles. Immigrant delivery workers from various countries now spend their days picking up orders for apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, facing language barriers and dangerous working conditions. Prior to the new regulations, these workers earned an average of $14 an hour, with half coming from tips.
While labor organizers claim that average earnings have increased under the new rules, app companies are cutting costs and maintaining their advantage by being less transparent about pay statistics. Delivery workers now face a lack of clarity on their pay, with apps having the discretion to retroactively decide how to calculate earnings, making it difficult for workers to predict their income.
As the delivery landscape continues to evolve in New York City, with fees rising for consumers and fewer orders for merchants, delivery workers like Pineda are left to navigate uncertain and unpredictable pay structures, striving to make a living in a city where expenses are high.
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