NEW YORK —A New York State Supreme Court judge’s order has deprived approximately 65,000 low-paid food delivery drivers for DoorDash, Lyft, and UberEats of a big raise the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission granted to them, pending a July 31 court session.
Judge James Coyne’s order, at the demand of the three delivery firms, means that instead of the city’s minimum wage of $17.96 an hour, plus tips, as the commission mandated, the drivers are still stuck at $7.09 because they’re “independent contractors.”
The raise was scheduled for July 12, but Coyne’s order, five days before, stopped it.
Los Deliveristas Unidos, one of several pro-worker organizations battling for the drivers, who are mostly people of color, responded with a tweet: “Hey UberEats, can you tell us why 65,000+ delivery workers have to rely on tips to sustain a living? You spend millions on lobbying and legal fees to take minimum pay away from us, but can only pay us pennies?
“Unacceptable. Get a grip. Deliveristas are not backing down.”
As “independent contractors” under labor law, the drivers aren’t covered by state or federal minimum wage laws, don’t get workers’ comp, must shoulder both the workers’ and the employers’ share of payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and don’t get jobless benefits. They’re also barred from unionizing.
So they organized independently, through the non-profit groups, and launched their campaign for decent wages, winning approval from the Taxi and Limousine Commission last year. The Uber-Lyft-DoorDash lawsuit stopping the wage hike was the bosses’ response.
By contrast, DoorDash went public at the end of 2020 and its CEO, Tony Xu, took home $413 million the following year, one New York City news outlet reported.
“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,” city Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga told a June press conference on the increase.
The companies’ blockage of raises for its drivers has already forced them to strike once, in January. An e-mail to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which supports them, asking what they plan now, went unanswered.
Uber driver Abdoul Kere, who migrated to the U.S. from Burkina Faso, told The Guardian at the time of the January strike that while he averages $200 daily from driving, by the time he pays for maintaining the car, insurance, tolls, gas and other expenses, he’s left with almost nothing.
“If you look at inflation, everything has gone up–food, rent, all the expenses,” Kere said then. “If Uber stopped this, that doesn’t make sense. We are partners. We are not slaves. Uber has to see how we are suffering to run this city every day.”
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
Comments