Some Bronx-based delivery workers are speaking out against the city’s minimum hourly wage requirement for workers in their industry, which they say has had the unintended consequence of drastically reducing their earnings.
Several voiced their concerns at a roundtable discussion on Aug. 13, when DoorDash workers, local elected officials and the Bronx Chamber of Commerce came together at the Residence Inn on Eastchester Road to address the issue. Several DoorDash representatives also attended.
Ibrahima Magassouba, who lives in the Grand Concourse area, spoke about how he has been a driver with DoorDash (“Dasher”) for about three years and is no longer making as much money since the minimum wage law went into effect. Before the minimum wage rule, he said, he often earned $1,000 per week.
Now, Magassouba said he’s lucky to get half as much. “We’re really, really struggling” — to the point where he is looking for a regular job. Three other Dashers cited similar experiences.
The minimum wage law was hard-won by advocates and delivery workers who argued that app-based work provided inadequate protections for workers, who are mainly people of color and immigrants and were heavily relied upon during and since the pandemic.
City Council passed a series of bills in 2021 outlining various protections and calling for the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to produce a study on a potential minimum pay rate and other implications.
Despite a legal challenge by the major delivery apps Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash, the city announced the minimum pay rule on April 1, 2024, effective immediately. The rule gave all app-based restaurant delivery workers a wage of at least $19.56 per hour before tips, to be adjusted annually for inflation.
Contrary to the four Dashers at the Bronx roundtable, the city says the new law has drastically increased earnings for delivery workers.
A DCWP report from January to March 2024 showed that delivery workers earned an average of $19.26 per hour, a 64% increase from the same quarter the year before the minimum pay rate was enforced.
Meanwhile, the city has a system for workers to submit complaints. “We will continue to monitor the apps’ compliance to ensure workers are being paid appropriately, but any worker who has questions or complaints should reach out to us immediately,” said Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga in a statement when the rule change was introduced.
At the roundtable, Magassouba and the three other Bronx-based delivery workers — brought in by DoorDash’s public engagement team — unanimously spoke out against changes to the app that stemmed from the new rule.
“First of all, I love what I do,” said Marco Rojas, a ten-year veteran Dasher who lives in the Bedford Park area. But he said he enjoyed the flexibility of the old system. He was making good money — and didn’t see a need to change it.
“We [as workers] know how it is, and we know what’s best for us,” said Rojas.
He said he is now seeing less efficient use of his time. “You have to be there all day to make some money,” he Rojas. “It was not like that before.”
‘This isn’t working’
The Bronx event was a “fact-finding session” for DoorDash, said Kassandra Perez-Desir, head of government relations for the company in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. The company held a similar event last week in Queens and will go to Manhattan and Brooklyn in the weeks ahead.
But the company came with well-established concerns. It said the pay rule has had “devastating impacts” on New York City’s economy, cutting into small business profits and limiting the earning potential of Dashers. The number of Dashers in the Bronx has dropped by 25% since the minimum pay rate took effect, the company says.
“We hope that policymakers in New York will recognize that this isn’t working, and we need to find a new approach,” the company said in a May 2024 report.
Magassouba and his colleagues said they believe the city had good intentions in prescribing the minimum pay rule, but that they didn’t hear from enough workers in the process.
“Nobody” is making more money now than before, Magassouba said.
‘Everything changed’
Dashers at the roundtable said their issue is not only with the minimum pay rate but also with the scheduling changes that accompanied it. The workers say that they are now limited in where they can make deliveries at specific times, which has reduced their ability to work.
A DCWP spokesperson also told the Bronx Times that the city did not prescribe changes to how the apps schedule employees’ time and that those decisions were made by the companies.
Idrissa Barry, who has worked with DoorDash by bike for two years, said that under the changes, he frequently cannot “clock in” to make deliveries in certain parts of the city. Before, he added, he could choose to go anywhere there was an available job.
“It’s very difficult,” said Barry. “Everything changed.”
The others agreed that the scheduling changes are a big problem. Jamal Harris, originally from Harlem and now living in the Bronx, said he used to be able to predict fluctuations in earnings by neighborhood and borough and strategize his time accordingly. Harris said he thrived on the independence of choosing when and how much to work, at times bouncing between nine different delivery apps on his phone.
“I’m trying to get the money,” said Harris. “I’m hustling.”
But he believes putting all delivery workers on an equal footing took away from those like him who were making great money without a set minimum wage.
“Once they put the rule in, they made it the same for everybody. We don’t need that,” Harris said.
‘Balancing act’
Lisa Sorin, president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, said she was surprised to hear the Dashers’ unanimous point of view. She expressed concern about a dip in numbers and morale among workers whom residents like herself have grown to depend on.
A “balancing act” between app companies, consumers and workers will need to be reached, Sorin said. The key is to not penalize companies for making money, but also to maximize workers’ pay while keeping fees reasonable for users, she said.
“We want to protect you,” Sorin told the Dashers. “We will help you get your voice out there.”
DoorDash has been the main company at the table for these types of discussions, getting hit for both good and bad, Sorin said. But she said a balance can be achieved that benefits everyone.
“Yes, we [at the Chamber of Commerce] support the businesses — but the employees are what make the business,” said Sorin.
Assembly Member Chantel Jackson said delivery app work is a great opportunity for young people and New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds.
“I believe in these apps,” she said — but added that it is often difficult to know the effects of any change until it’s implemented.
In order for workers like Magassouba, Harris, Rojas and Barry to establish that the new rule isn’t working, they need to be able to show that the vast majority — not just a few — were making more money before the rule change, said Assembly Member Landon Dais.
So the four workers began loosely organizing on the spot, collecting names and phone numbers on a sheet of paper. They said many of their colleagues would be on board to start a petition or hold a meeting to discuss these issues.
Magassouba told the Bronx Times that delivery workers don’t always know how to organize —but he hopes the roundtable was a good start.
“I really want this to change,” he said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes