Major Delivery Apps Are Suing NYC Over Raising the Minimum Wage for Drivers

NYC's law mandated paying delivery drivers nearly $18 per hour.

Last month, New York City successfully passed a first-of-its-kind law that would give delivery app drivers a significant pay increase, bumping their hourly wage from an average of $11 per hour, to a minimum of $17.96 per hour, plus tips. That law was supposed to take effect on Wednesday, July 12, but a judge has issued a temporary restraining order which will keep it from happening — at least for now.

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Nicholas Moyne signed off on the order on Friday, a day after DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber, and Relay filed lawsuits opposing the new legislation. “The court is going to issue an order temporarily enjoining the statute from being effective pending the hearing,” Moyne said, according to Bloomberg. “The court is issuing this temporary restraining order based on a concern of the possibility of irreparable harm, and to preserve the status quo.”

The four delivery platforms have multiple concerns about the new law, ranging from how it could affect their restaurants’ delivery areas, to arguing that drivers could be getting paid by more than one app simultaneously. A spokesperson for Uber said that its goal was to “work with the city and all stakeholders to figure out a minimum pay rule that doesn’t have devastating consequences for couriers, consumers and restaurants.”

Related: These Cities Are the Most (and Least) Expensive for Using Food Delivery Apps

In a blog post on its website, DoorDash explained its own resistance to what it described as “a bad policy that was the result of an even worse process.” The company said that it took issue with the methodology used by the City of New York’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) when it established the new minimum wage, and suggested that this pay increase would ultimately result in higher prices for restaurant app customers.

“As the city itself acknowledged, higher fees are coming for consumers, which will inevitably mean less revenue for local businesses and fewer earning opportunities for workers,” DoorDash wrote. “These are impacts that will often be felt by those who can least afford them: busy families who depend on the accessibility and convenience of delivery, small restaurants working tirelessly to grow their businesses, or delivery workers seeking opportunities for extra income to make ends meet.”

In its own statement, the DCWP expressed its displeasure with the judge’s ruling. “Delivery workers, like all workers, deserve fair pay for their labor, and we are disappointed that Uber, DoorDash, GrubHub, and Relay disagree,” the Department said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “These workers brave thunderstorms, extreme heat events, and risk their lives to deliver for New Yorkers — and we remain committed to delivering for them. The minimum pay rate will help uplift thousands of working New Yorkers and their families out of poverty.”

And on Instagram, Los Deliveristas Unidos and the Worker’s Justice Project called the platforms’ lawsuits an “unconscionable” attempt to prevent this wage increase. “This latest legal maneuver to prop up their business model comes at the expense of workers who can barely survive in a city facing a massive affordability crisis,” the groups wrote in a statement. “We will continue to organize, fight, and defend the right to earn a fair and livable wage in our city.”

Judge Moyne has scheduled the next hearing for Monday, July 31.

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