In Europe’s large towns and cities, food delivery services operating via smartphone apps, and for the most part employing freelance workers are in full swing. Similar to the UBER platform based model, these businesses are just embarking on worker representation structures and are still somewhat vague over the definition of working conditions and remuneration. Workers in these types of businesses are increasingly disaffected with these grey areas and trade unions are starting to home in on the issues, and, things are starting to change. In Vienna, ‘Riders’ with Foodora, one of the leaders in this market segment have succeeded in establishing a works council (WC). Next door in Germany, the small FAU anarchist union is trying to gather delivery workers together with the #deliverunion campaign, whilst in Cologne, the NGG food and restaurant union is looking to setup a works council for its local delivery workers.
Foodora working conditions. Foodora’s bonus arrangements vary from country to country but nonetheless its business model remains the same in the ten countries in which the German Berlin-based company currently operates. Foodora was set up in 2014 and now has 6,500 restaurants under contract. Delivery Hero, another Berlin based company, owns Foodora and owns a dozen or so similar platforms that work with some 300,000 restaurants across the globe giving employment to 12,100 half of whom make their food deliveries by bicycle.
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