
In response to the province’s proposal to raise the minimum wage ride-hailing and food delivery app workers, the CEO of BC’s Restaurant and Food Services Association emphasizes a need for a meticulous examination of the details.
While expressing approval for the increased protections offered to gig workers, Ian Tostenson voiced concerns about potential cost implications on restaurants and people are unknown at this time.
He says delivery companies charge up to 25-30 per cent of a person’s bill.
“You phone up and order Uber Eats, it is going to cost the restaurant about 25 per cent of that bill, so if it is $100, it is a $25 cost; there is a point at which the restaurant is going to say it cannot pay 28 per cent.”
However, Tostenson says he is staying optimistic even though he acknowledges that many people may also resist additional fees imposed by food delivery companies due to the changes.
“I am hoping with 12,000 workers that are in the gig economy, the costs are spread so they become minimal – it is not like we are dealing with hundreds of people here and we have to put the cost in and there are quite a few workers that these costs can be spread against.”
As a result, Tostenson says they will be working through the legislation with the province.
“We think recognizing these workers is important but, let’s make sure that we do as much as we can to manage costs because we are trying to get inflation going the other way in our economy, not just making more costs to make things more expensive.”
The province has introduced a minimum wage of $20.10 for gig workers, which is $3.35 higher than the current general minimum wage.