Representatives of employees from six of the ten European Member State subsidiaries operating meal delivery services from Foodora met on 11 April in Vienna, and is the first European meeting of this kind. Representatives of unions from six countries also attended. In addition to face-to-face introductions, the goal was to commence work on an official systematic network as well as to lay the groundwork for a comparative study of countries’ social situations. Austria was not chosen for the venue by accident. The country was the first to elect an employee representative body at Foodora and Austrian social partners have also announced they have started discussions over a sector collective agreement for the end of 2018. Together with Robert Walasinski, vice-president of Foodora Vienna’s employee representative body, Planet Labor reviews the meeting as well as the social progress (real or otherwise) being made by Austria’s delivery workers.
A European dimension. Initiated by the ÖGB (the Austrian Trade Union Federation), the Austrian Services union, Vida, and the Federal Chamber of Employment (Arbeitskammer), representatives of German company Foodora’s German, Austrian, Dutch, Norwegian, Italian and French delivery riders met together in Vienna in order to meet with each other, compare working situations, and set out sustainable strategies for improving working conditions and remuneration. Austrian impetus stemmed from the fact that the ‘Austrian social partnership’ provided the right environment for employee representation structures to quickly emerge in this company that is well known for hindering social dialogue and social dumping.
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