Op-Ed: Delivery Workers Keep Waiting for Minimum Pay: Mayor Adams and City Hall Made a Promise that Must be Redeemed

When Mayor Adams and city leaders unveiled the nation’s first proposed minimum pay rate for food delivery workers last year, they made a bold promise: New York would finally deliver economic stability for an “essential” workforce. The city was required by Local Law 115 of 2021 to implement a minimum pay rate for delivery workers — or “deliveristas” — by Jan. 1, 2023, but months later, the workers are still waiting. This week, NYC CLC President Vincent Alvarez and Workers Justice Project Executive Director Ligia Guallpa penned an OpEd in the New York Daily News calling on the City to fulfill that promise:

"Last year, we were heartened to hear the mayor acknowledge the essential role delivery workers play in our city, saying that deliveristas have 'delivered for New York time and again, including during the COVID-19 pandemic — now it’s time for New York to deliver for them.' Yet New York hasn’t delivered the minimum pay they fought tirelessly for and won, allowing billion-dollar delivery app companies to exploit workers while the city continues to face an affordability crisis. A recent report found that half of working families in New York City are unable to afford basic needs — an increase of almost 40% from two years prior — and Latino households are disproportionately impacted."

"There’s no more time for delays. New York City’s more than 65,000 delivery workers keep millions of New Yorkers fed. They deserve a minimum pay so they can keep their own families fed." Read the full OpEd here and learn more and sign a petition at customersdeliveringjustice.org.