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The Labour Council of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment stated on Thursday 15th of October that the food couriers of Wolt and Foodora are to be considered employees. The statement by the council is not a binding decision on the interpretation of law as a court precedent decision would be, but it is an important interpretation and request on how the law should in this case be applied. It also affirms what out campaign has said for long: couriers are employees, not entrepreneurs!
Since the beginning, the aim of our campaign has been that those couriers who want to work as employees instead of freelance-partnerships will be given the possibility to sign an employment contract, if they so wish. We now hope that the Labour Council’s statement advances this aim both at Foodora as well as Wolt.
As a result of the statement, Foodora has sent its couriers a message to state that everything is in order and has commented the statement in a round-about way. Wolt for its part has noted that the interpretation in favor of employment will lead to the ending of contracts for thousands of couriers and the hiring of “new” couriers working as employees for worse pay.
Our campaign emphasizes that in Finnish working life these issues are usually negotiated, not dictated. We hope that the Labour Council’s statement would lead to negotiations over a collective agreement between the companies and an existing union best representing food couriers, for example the Service Union United, PAM. The rights of couriers, just as any other workers, are best protected by collective agreements. #justice4couriers