The city of Seattle is one step closer to repealing its recently introduced minimum wage increase for food delivery drivers after nearly three hours of debate among drivers, restaurant owners and labor advocates. Eliminating the $5 fee and lowering the mileage rate would be the latest development in a nascent effort to bring drivers from companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash into the minimum wage debate.
As contract workers, delivery drivers for these apps are not eligible to receive the local minimum wage. Seattle and New York City changed the game by becoming the first two US cities to implement a base pay for drivers. The minimum wage for app delivery workers in New York City is $19.56 an hour, not including tips.
In Seattle, some food delivery drivers expressed skepticism about the original pay-up law, saying fewer online orders meant they were taking less pay home. Other drivers said the minimum wage would need to be increased further to cover living costs. Several restaurant owners have reported a drop in delivery sales due to fee hikes on delivery apps.
In response to the complaints, the Local Government Commission voted to lower the minimum wage for gig workers. The changes are expected to become law later this month if all Congress passes a similar resolution.
Delivery drivers push back against minimum wage laws
At Thursday's City Council meeting, nearly half of gig delivery workers spoke out against the law, saying they have lost income due to missed orders. Other Working Washington drivers expressed support for the minimum wage law, claiming they were paid extra wages to cover basic expenses.
Ariana Riley, a delivery driver for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Amazon Flex, said that before PayUp was passed in 2022, she was taking home nearly $10 an hour after paying for gas with Uber Eats. Ta. Now, she makes at least $24 an hour. She said Riley can afford to pay for the car repairs because she is on minimum wage and she doesn't have to worry that she will incur other expenses. Ta.
“I think app companies have been taking advantage of workers for a long time,” Riley said.
Alex Kim has been a delivery driver for DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats for several years. He said he enjoys the flexibility of being a gig worker.
“I recently had to pay $1,000 for repairs on my car, but that wasn't an issue,” Kim said. “I now have more money in my bank account…my credit card debt has gone down significantly.”
Kim said DoorDash and Grubhub are doing well with the new law in place. “That has a lot to do with the fact that the fees are pretty reasonable, at least compared to Uber Eats,” Kim said, adding that the app still allows drivers to take advantage of prepaid tips, their main source of income.
But not all gig workers are happy with the outcome of the PayUp bill. Gary Lardizabal has been working at Uber Eats since 2018. Before minimum wage laws went into effect, he earned between $800 and $1,200 a week. Now, on a good day, he takes home $100.
“It was very stressful. It's late now, so I'm working another part-time job. Money days are Friday and Saturday.”
He believes the PayUp bill is responsible for the soaring prices on delivery apps, but hopes the new bill will lower costs for consumers.
Some supporters of the minimum wage bill have accused food delivery apps of retaliating against the law by introducing price increases on their platforms.
Spice Waala, a small restaurant chain in Seattle, shared on Instagram that delivery sales were down 30%. They said this decrease was “primarily due to the $5 surcharge imposed by the City of Seattle to resolve the minimum wage issue for drivers.”
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On Thursday, a Seattle City Council committee voted to repeal an original minimum wage law that required delivery apps to pay drivers $5 per order, or 44 cents per minute and 74 cents per mile. . DoorDash recently announced that the law requires drivers to be paid at least $26.40 per hour of delivery, not including tips. Drivers at the City Council meeting pushed back, saying their take-home pay was less than that amount.
If passed by the full House later this month, the rewritten bill would require apps to pay drivers 33 cents per minute and 35 cents per mile. Workers would only be paid for the time they spend picking up and delivering orders. You will also be responsible for expenses such as gasoline.
Supporters of the bill called it a compromise and said it would allow delivery drivers to be paid the same wage as Seattle's minimum wage, which is $19.97 per hour.
The nonprofit organization Worker Washington said in a recent report that the new law would reduce drivers' net pay to $13.17 an hour due to payroll taxes and mileage costs.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Living wage debate: Minimum wage for Seattle delivery drivers could be lowered