On the 5th of February, representatives of the Justice4Courier campaign met for the second time with Wolt to discuss the working conditions of couriers. From our point of view, the meeting was very constructive and we agreed to meet with Wolt again in few months time to discuss issues further.
In the meeting, both Wolt and Justice4Couriers members suggested topics to be discussed. Both parties wanted to discuss the concrete conditions and terms of courier work and possible changes to them. In the meeting, we focused especially on two possible ways, or routes, to improve couriers’ working conditions:
1. Improvements into the freelancing model, such as insurances
2. The possibility for employment
Both Wolt and Justice4Couriers representatives acknowledged that the first route “cements” freelancing as a working model. Because of this, it we in the Justice4Couriers campaign prefer employment contracts as the way to improve courier working conditions. We discussed insurances and agreed that even though we prefer a more comprehensive solution offered by employment contracts, we welcome any and all improvements to the concete situations of couriers. Insurances that cover at least the worse case scenarios, such as injuries, are important, because we all agreed that as couriers work in traffic, someone is bound to be involved in a serious accident.
Wolt representatives told that as one way to improve the safety networks of couriers the company explores the possibility of offering employment contracts to couriers. The first phase in this is to map out what practical possibilities this would offer to organize the work of couriers economically and judicially in Finland and in other countries Wolt operates in. Our campaign is very pleased that Wolt explores this possibility. In our meeting, we discussed different practical issues such as shift and payment models that could be included in the employment contract. The discussion was in our opinion constructive and practical. Both parties seemed to favor a “dual model” where Wolt would have a (limited number) of employees and (a larger number) of freelancers. We acknowledge that Wolt has to explore how it would practically implement this and that such a change takes time. According to Wolt, the “dual model” has poses legal questions that the company needs to ponder. (The company notes that employment should be organized partly differently than freelancing to be legally feasible.)
All in all, our campaign representatives and campaign members who were briefed about the meeting, were very happy with yesterday’s discussion. We look forward to a new meeting with Wolt and we are happy that we have a constructive discussion relationship with Wolt. We want to continue similar discussions in the future, because ultimately, we believe, they will serve both the company and the couriers. After the meeting, Wolt contacted us and noted that company is happy that they have constructive and mutually appreacitve communication channel with the campaign.
PS. To open up how our campaign operates: the campaign group selects persons to represent the campaign at each meeting. The representatives have no mandate to make any agreements on behalf of the campaign, unless explicitly given so by the campaign group. Representatives are chosen anew for each meeting.