- Drivers report decreased earnings
- Strike threats on Fridays, holidays
- Minimum £5 delivery fee demanded
Stuart and other delivery drivers for Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo claim that despite significant increases in the cost of living, their earnings for up to 72-hour workweeks have decreased by as much as £300. In light of this, the drivers are demanding measures such as a minimum delivery fee of £5.
In the absence of satisfactory demands, takeaway delivery disruptions will occur on Fridays and holidays, according to a statement made by an organiser prior to the Valentine’s Day stoppage.
Wednesday night between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., 4,000 delivery riders may go on strike, according to a group called Delivery Jobs UK, because four complete WhatsApp groups, each with more than 1,000 users, are discussing discontent with pay for food delivery jobs.
Riders utilise the Stuart, Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo applications. While their primary function is takeaway delivery, they can also purchase supplies.
In regions where Deliveroo anticipates disruptions, it has advised restaurants to suspend order acceptance and transition their delivery terminal to inactive mode “to prevent a negative customer experience” should a backlog of orders develop.
According to the email, restaurants that rescind deliveries will not incur commission fees, and Deliveroo will automatically cancel orders that exceed a delay of 45 minutes while en route to customers.
The action will have its greatest impact in north and central London, but 95 group leaders are organising in other regions, according to spokesperson Ulisses Cioffi.
If demands are not met, he stated, such behaviour will continue on Fridays and holidays including Father’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day.
A global campaigning effort
The locations of the event organisers span the nation, including London, Bristol, Brighton, and Liverpool.
The collective is exchanging strategies with analogous delivery worker movements occurring both domestically and abroad, including disruptions among gig economy workers in Ireland and the United States.
“At this time, we are exchanging articles, data, and strategies. “Therefore, we will continue to implement whatever has proven to be successful here until [delivery companies] agree to a meeting with us,” Mr. Cioffi explained.
Pay discontent is the prevailing grievance among the organisations, which, according to Mr. Cioffi, frequently operate in perilous settings involving intoxicated individuals, bicycle thefts, and bigotry.
Economic elements
Advocates for the Delivery Jobs UK consortium propose a minimum delivery fee of £5, remuneration commensurate with the distance a courier must travel to reach the pick-up location, and augmented wages for transporting multiple orders from a single food establishment.
Instead of increasing in tandem with the cost of living, Mr. Cioffi reported a decline in fees.
As opposed to the previous range of £900 to £1,000 per week, a delivery person can now anticipate earning £700 to £850 over the course of a typical six-day week, working 10 to 12-hour days.
This is prior to the inclusion of taxes and the numerous driver overheads (fuel and vehicle costs).
Additionally, individuals are putting in an additional day and extended workdays as a consequence, he continued.
However, he stated that the job continues to draw in employees, including a considerable proportion of single mothers, because of its flexible nature and the closure of other positions.
Despite the fact that I believe this to be the ideal part-time occupation, the current state of the economy prevents it from becoming people’s primary source of income.
The tale of the gig economy continues
The grievances are not novel. Difficulties with delivery app couriers and the freelance economy have dominated the news for years and have even been brought before the Supreme Court.
Following the heightened media attention on wages and working conditions in the gig economy during the pandemic years and the eventual triumph of Uber drivers in the UK courts concerning their conditions, Just Eat emerged as the pioneering food delivery aggregator in the UK to hire delivery personnel.
“Don’t miss out! Grab your free shares of Webull UK today!”
Prior to abandoning the plan and terminating the employment of couriers in March of last year, Jitse Groen, the chief executive officer of Just Eat Takeaway.com, stated that the gig economy “has resulted in precarious working conditions throughout Europe, which are the worst in a century.”
He stated in the February 2021 issue of the Financial Times, “The gig economy is detrimental to both society and the workers.”
Other businesses have received diverse responses.
Deliveroo provides training opportunities, free insurance, illness coverage, and financial assistance for new parents. However, according to Mr. Cioffi, claiming these benefits is challenging and the income protection is not calculated on an individual’s average weekly earnings.
