for The New York Times: Inside the Fight to Pay Food Delivery Workers $23 an Hour by José A. Alvarado Jr.

Media

for The New York Times: Inside the Fight to Pay Food Delivery Workers $23 an Hour

josé a. alvarado jr.

Dec 30, 2022

Location: New York City

Summary

App services warn that a proposed wage increase for New York City workers could mean higher delivery costs.

William Medina, a delivery worker in Queens, waits for orders to trickle in from DoorDash and Grubhub. Thirty minutes can go by without a single order. Sometimes an hour.

He gets paid by the order, so no order, no money.

“I’m always ready,” said Mr. Medina, 38, an immigrant from Colombia, who makes an average of $150 to $200, mostly in tips, for up to 12 hours of work.

Mr. Medina is one of more than 60,000 app-based food delivery workers who race across the city to serve hungry New Yorkers. Many put in long hours, while braving nasty storms, flooding, speeding drivers and thieves.

The workers banded together in the summer of 2020 as Los Deliveristas Unidos. Mr. Medina, who is an outspoken member, and his colleagues are demanding better pay and working conditions, arguing that they are part of a booming industry. Since delivery workers are independent contractors, they are not covered by minimum wage laws and basic employee protections such as workers’ compensation insurance.Now, as a result of their efforts, Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and other app services may soon have to pay workers like Mr. Medina significantly more, as the city moves to regulate pay practices in the largest food delivery market in the country.

Photographed for The New York Times, with words by Winnie Hu.

Inside the Fight to Pay Food Delivery Workers $23 an Hour
App services warn that a proposed wage increase for New York City workers could mean higher delivery costs.
Nytimes.com

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José A. Alvarado Jr.

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