Month: January 2019

suomeksi / Facebook

We heard from a French courier union that a 18-year-old UberEATS bike courier has died during his shift in Bordeaux after a truck reversed on him. The news shocked couriers throughout Europe and we want to send our condolences to the family and friends of the courier.

Both bike and car courier work in traffic, where accidents cannot always be avoided. Because of this it is of utmost importance that couriers have insurances and the possibility for sick leave and pay. The food delivery companies offer none of this: in Finland too, Foodora and Wolt courier work especially in the winter in very difficult conditions without the companies offering them even the minimum security. The risk of an accident is increased, because the small pay—that both Foodora and Wolt cut—of the couriers is paid by the number of delivered orders. So couriers are encourage to ride more, faster and longer.

And as the tragic accident of Bordeaux shows, bike couriers who are in a most vulnerable position can wind up in an accident that was not of their doing. Foodora and Wolt, take responsibility of your couriers on whose work you businesses are based!

suomeksi / Facebook

Foodora is looking for new couriers and in its ad it mentions the “flexible freelance agreement” as one of the work’s benefits. A freelance agreement is however only a benefit for Foodora, not for the couriers. The freelance status excludes the couriers from all basic worker rights: the couriers pay their own pensions, have no insurance, no sick pay and their pay can be cut or they can be fired at any time without any reason.

Both Foodora and Wolt offer only freelance contracts to their couriers. This is a common practice internationally too, also Deliveroo, Glovo and UberEATS circumvent worker rights with freelance contracts.

The couriers are however struggling for their rights and have recently gained notable victories: in Turin the court ruled that Foodora had wrongly classed five couriers as freelancers. An even greater victory was gained in the Netherlands where the court decided that all Deliveroo freelance couriers are in fact employees and Deliveroo must adhere to the collective agreement of the transport and logistics sector.

We call for Wolt and Foodora to negotiate with its couriers, because the time of denying workers their rights is over.

suomeksi / Facebook

The new year has started in difficult weather: the roads have been extremely slippery, the wind strong and today it snows heavily. Bicycle couriers work in any kind of weather, but Foodora and Wolt couriers have to work under bad conditions without insurances or the possibility for sick leave. Foodora removed brake spaces from its couriers over a year ago and despite its promises, the company has not provided new ones. So the old problems continue into the new year and thus we continue our work to improve the working conditions of bike and car couriers.

If you want to help, share our texts, follow us on social media and invite your friends to follow us.