Seattle's City Council is scrambling to tweak its recently enacted delivery pay law as an outcry from restaurants and gig workers reaches a crescendo. The PayUp legislation, designed to ensure a minimum wage for delivery drivers from companies such as Doordash, Uber Eats, and Instacart, is now under the microscope for unintended side effects that, according to some local businesses, have done more harm than good. Not only have the companies slapped a roughly $5 added fee onto customers in reaction to the law, but it has also reportedly led to a decrease in orders for the already struggling restaurants.
Pushing back against the measure, dubbed "Fight the Fee," delivery workers donning signs with the message gathered in front of the city council committee on Thursday, as reported by KOMO News. The original law passed Jan 13, has the delivery companies covering an hourly wage of $26.40, an amount exceeding the city's minimum wage, along with mileage and before tips are factored in.
Concerns have reached City Council President Sara Nelson, who acknowledged the law's impact and expressed an urgent need to address it. "These are lives on the line. Frankly, people can't pay their rent," Nelson told KING 5. "I'm hungry to help out the people that are being really hurt by this legislation." Seattle restaurants and some drivers argue that the PayUp law has meant fewer orders and less income, prompting urgent discussions for amendment.
Proposed changes to the law were discussed by the council's economic development committee, eyeing cuts to both driver pay and mileage reimbursement. According to BizJournals, a new model is being floated that would adjust the pay to $19.97 per active hour or $0.33 per minute, including $0.35 per active mile. The hope is to relieve the financial load on companies so that the pass-through fee to customers can be eliminated and demand can subsequently bounce back. In the current upheaval, standing with a phone in her hand, a restaurant owner at the meeting lamented the delay in orders her business is facing due to the added fees, which signals urgent calls for an ordinance revision.
As the council deliberates, the delivery apps continue to press for a compromise that would realign the economic scales in their favor. Anna Powell, government relations manager for Doordash in the northwest region, suggested to a KING 5 representative over the phone that if the costs can be decreased, Doordash "will definitely explore all options to increase affordability to consumers, including a reduction of the fee." Meanwhile, Drive Forward—a group of delivery drivers and advocates—proposes a new minimum wage model, lobbying that a swift adoption could eliminate the need for the $5 fee and bring relief to the sector.
