DoorDash spends over $1M to fight Seattle minimum wage law
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DoorDash has spent more than $1 million since January lobbying to repeal Seattle's minimum wage law for app-based delivery drivers, according to city records.
Why it matters: The minimum wage ordinance has been a topic of intense debate since it took effect in January, with DoorDash and UberEats responding with new fees that some restaurants and drivers say have caused them to lose business.
Catch up quick: An effort to scale back the minimum wage legislation was set to come before the City Council in May, but is now on hold after the council delayed voting on it.
- That proposal would have lowered drivers' minimum pay to the citywide minimum wage of $19.97 per hour, among other changes, according to a city memo.
- App companies have said the current driver pay law comes out to more than $26 an hour.
The latest: In July, DoorDash spent more than $292,000 on indirect lobbying — such as ad campaigns, phone banking and consulting services — to oppose the driver minimum wage ordinance, according to a report the company filed this month with Seattle's Ethics and Elections Commission.
- That's on top of more than $710,000 the company reported spending on ads and other indirect lobbying efforts between January and June.
- The company also paid lobbyists to try to influence council members directly, such as through in-person meetings.
Zoom out: All told, DoorDash has spent far more than any other group lobbying the city this year, per city records.
- Working Washington, a group that is supporting the driver minimum wage ordinance, spent more than $200,000 on campaign materials, consulting and other indirect lobbying efforts since January, per their campaign finance filings.
What they're saying: Parker Dorrough, a spokesperson for DoorDash, told Axios that the new minimum wage law has cost Seattle businesses millions in lost revenue since January.
- The company started charging customers a $4.99 fee on delivery orders in response to the citywide law, but says it is still losing money in Seattle.
- After the City Council did not amend the law in May, the company announced it would impose another $1.99 charge on certain orders that travel long distances.
- "We remain committed to standing up for Seattle businesses, Dashers, and consumers — even if the City Council won't," Dorrough said in a written statement to Axios.
The other side: Hannah Sabio-Howell, a spokesperson for Working Washington, doubts whether DoorDash needs to charge the new fees, given that it is "spending millions on lobbying and reporting record-breaking quarterly revenue this year," she wrote in an email to Axios.
- Sabio-Howell added that "raising wages for low-wage workers is common sense economic policy."
What we're watching: Whether the council takes up amendments to the gig worker minimum wage ordinance again in the fall.