Doordash, GrubHub, Uber and Relay lawsuits claim that the $17.96 per hour wage set to start on 12 July would deal blow to business
Then maybe they shouldn’t be in business.
How are they called “tech companies”? Are they not just delivery companies?
Not criticizing, just asking
Calling yourself a tech company gets you more investors
The reality is Uber, grubhub, doordash, etc. are owners of a platform that connects customers to contract delivery services. They don’t directly employ delivery persons. Their product is this platform. This is why they are considered tech companies.
Presumably because they don’t have a single delivery employee. They just provide “tech” that lets drivers and customers find each others.
Of course if those companies were to become responsible for providing a living wage to their “gig workers”, then it becomes harder to still call them mere “tech” companies (and some might argue that an article using that label to describe them is in fact implicitly picking a side in that lawsuit.)
I mean… the law itself is written in such a way that is intentionally ambiguous, and refers to delivery drivers as “workers” (rather than “employees” or “independent contractors”) and refers to the platforms as “third parties”.
They’re not. They’re S&O companies with tech.
Let’s be specific
Tony Xu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/xutony/ - chinese american billionaire - doordash
Howard Migdal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-migdal-90275142/ - canadian - grubhub
Dara Khosrowshahi - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dara-khosrowshahi-70949862/ - iranian american - uber
Alex Blum - https://www.linkedin.com/in/blumalex/ - american I think, little info - relay
These 4 asshats think their money is more important than people being able to afford to live.
Wow thanks. This really puts things into perspective.
Also very depressing.
Local officials have said that delivery workers receive approximately $11 hourly after tips, given their out-of-pocket expenses – which is $4 less than New York City’s minimum wage of $15
That wage is insulting, both to the workers and the city. Kick the business’ out of town - someone other will fill the vacuum and do it better.
Yeah that’s how capitalism should work.
Yet, said companies are making billions in profits…
Nothing to do with tech and OP apparently doesn’t understand that.
Also fuck these 4 companies.
Noob question: Let’s say you’re an Uber driver. If you keep the app open while waiting for rides would you still receive the $17.96 even if you don’t get any rides? And… In case you receive a ride for $50 how does Uber splits the money? Thanks for clarifying
At least for delivery I think what gig companies have done in places that require an hourly rate is keeping your acceptance rate over a certain percentage per hour and/or have to take a minimum number of orders.
The primary thing that delivery drivers from accepting an order is if the payment (mostly the tip) is too low, if you’re paid by the hour that’s not much of an issue anymore. Other factors that would still be relevant are things like, is it too many miles (gas, wear and tear), is the pickup or delivery in somewhere that isn’t safe or that doesn’t have (free) parking, is it a restaurant that treats drivers rudely, is it taking you too far from where you need to be at a certain time, etc.
It is just a temporary injunction. Initially it is in effect for two weeks, though it may be extended while the suit is underway.
Well of course, in order to make profit you can never pay anyone more than what their work is worth. A company that does, will simply lose to the “cheaper” competitor and go bankrupt. The more you exploit the more profitable is your business.
I think delivery workers deserve a fair, livable wage, but I am not sure that this is the way to do this.
If this goes through, I could see this playing out in a couple ways:
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I would guess that fees go up to cover increased mandated wages. However, since the apps will not want headline costs to rise much more (already have a reputation for large markups, large percentage of fees, and consumer is getting more and more stressed), they could remove the ability to tip, and advertise that slightly higher fee is now “all-in” pricing, to keep headline costs similar on average. This is potentially detrimental to delivery workers depending on earnings/tip mix and shares that the apps skim from each.
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Adding an additional fee per order (on average $5 per order as quoted in a NYT article) on something that has relatively elastic demand, will likely be detrimental to all involved, as volumes could drop more than the increase in price. In this scenario, everyone loses: the consumer, the delivery worker, the third party, local restaurant.
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Adding an additional fee per order, and the apps experience little to no change in demand (relatively inelastic). This would only hurt the consumer, and would benefit delivery work and tech co’s. However, I have a hard time believing that demand for delivery is super inelastic given food inflation, state of the consumer, and generally perception on food delivery price already.
Not trying to be a corporate shill, but the economist in me is always hesitant when the solution is market interference. In reality, its probably somewhere between the extremes of 2 and 3, and determining where on that spectrum it ends up is quite nuanced.
We need additional regulation about profit margins and executive compensation, or something along those lines, to prevent cost increases from being passed on to the consumer when it could just as easily come out of the profit margin or executive compensation.
It’s a good joke, right?
The only alternative is to use the tools we have: let the free market work, but not at the expense of the employees. This means, yes, wage increase will be passed into the customer, who will reduce how much they use the service (decrease demand), which will either drive down supply to justify higher prices or drive down prices to increase demand again. Either option creates opportunities for competitors to enter the market which also drives down prices.
All that said, let me be clear: I prefer option A over option B, but I’m not getting my hopes up.
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