Foodora sent recently an email to its couriers and drivers noting that, because of “feedback”, that is, due to our campaign, Foodora will pay a monthly winter bonus from November to February of 50 euros to those who work over 30 hours and of 100 euros to those who work over 60 hours a month. Foodora also says it will start looking for social spaces for its riders.
We are pleased that Foodora intends to take action regarding the bad working conditions of its freelance couriers. We want to point out that the monthly bonus does not cover the loss of parking provisions and km allowances for drivers. Nor does the “winter bonus” make up for the pay cuts that decrease the couriers’ income from March to October. Hence, a return to the old pay model would be a more simple and effective solution.
The winter bonus does not address the fundamental problem that as freelancers Foodora’s couriers are excluded from the most basic worker protections, such as sick leave, insurances and pensions. As winter is approaching fast, Foodora must address the lack the of proper safety, because as the weather gets worse, the risk of getting sick or into an accident increases.
We are happy to hear that Foodora addresses the question of rider spaces. “Looking for them” is however not enough, it already snowed in Helsinki, so couriers need break spaces now and in all the cities in which Foodora operates—Helsinki, Turku, Tampere and Jyväskylä. Foodora was noted by its couriers well over a year ago that couriers absolutely need break spaces, so Foodora has had plenty of time to look for them.
Even though Foodora has refused to negotiate with its couriers, we repeat our call to Foodora to properly address the demands of couriers and negotiate with us over how to improve working conditions of freelancers. We expect Foodora to answer us by Friday 2.11.2018. If not, we will proceed by calling customers to boycott the company from Monday 5.11.2018 onwards.
