New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood up for the estimated 80,000 delivery workers on Thursday, announcing that the city is taking legal action against a delivery app service for allegedly stealing earnings from delivery workers.
Mamdani said the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is filing action against Motoclick following dozens of driver complaints, claiming the company has been stealing tips, charging workers illegal fees and violating minimum wage laws.
“The dignity is not abstract and the offenders are not elusive,” Mamdani said. “They are the corporations that profit off of this labor and then immediately ripped these same workers off.”
He also warned that other apps could be next and wants to hold other companies accountable, like DoorDash and Uber Eats, after they made it more difficult for customers to tip drivers, amounting to $550 million in lost tips.
“No longer will we tolerate corporate mistreatment of workers across these five boroughs, which is why we have sent warning letters to 60 app companies, warning them that new laws protecting workers will take effect on January 26th of this year, and that those laws will be enforced,” Mamdani said.
Alejandro has delivered for a variety of apps for 10 years.
“They send us long distances in rain or snow, and expect impossible delivery times and punish us for a slowing down to stay safe,” he said.
In an effort to ensure fairness at City Hall and throughout the city, the mayor appointed Afua Atta-Mensah as Chief Equity Officer and Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice.
“Reshaping systems that for far too long have erected barriers instead of building onramps for opportunity will not be easy,” Atta-Mensah said. “But as the mayor has made clear, this administration is committed to doing big things and doing them boldly.”
Arva Rice is president of the New York Urban League, who serves on the Mamdani transition advisory team.
“I think the Mamdani administration has shown their commitment to working class New Yorkers, and today showed their commitment specifically to African Americans, which I, of course, am pleased about,” Rice said. “But it’s just the beginning. We will be working both with him but also providing feedback, and critique when necessary, to make sure that he continues to work on behalf of working New Yorkers.”
Eyewitness News has reached out to Motoclick for comment but has not yet heard back.
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