On Friday night the 3rd of January 2020 Takieddine Boudhane, a 30 year old courier of the food delivery company Deliveroo, was murdered in North London during his shift. According to the police and news, Boudhane was stabbed to death by an unidentified van driver in “road rage”. Last Friday, Deliveroo and UberEATS couriers gathered on the murder scene to commemorate their colleague and to pray. For the last two days, Deliveroo and UberEATS couriers in London have been on strike in memory of their colleague and to demand the companies to address work place safety issues. Deliveroo and UberEATS have not responded to the couriers.
We the couriers of the Justice4Couriers campaign in Finland want to offer our condolances to the family of Boudhane, particularly his mother and brother, as well as to our colleagues in London, who have lost one of their own. Boudhane was murdered only six months after Iderval de Silva, also a Deliveroo courier from London, died after moped thieves had attacked him during his shift. Over the last two years, several couriers have died around the world in traffic and work place accidents.
In Britain, Deliveroo and UberEATS couriers are classed as “independent contractors” or freelancers, just like Foodora and Wolt couriers here in Finland. Due to this, the couriers are denied basic worker rights and protections, such as sick leaves. Courier work is physically demanding and all work in traffic is risky, especially for bicycle and moped couriers, who are particularly vulnerable. The couriers branch of the British IWGB union as well as the Justice4Couriers campaign have repeatedly emphasized that couriers working in traffic under conditions of de facto employment absolutely need basic worker rights and protections.
With solidarity,
the couriers of the Justice4Couriers campaign,
Finland