Support the Foodster United Courier Workers!
Foodora workers, fighting for their right to organize, participate in
2019 Labour Day parade
in Toronto.
On April 27, Foodora, one of the main restaurant
delivery operators in Toronto, abruptly announced it was closing up
operations Canada wide effective May 11, on two weeks' notice. The
announcement came two months after a precedent-setting decision by the
Ontario Labour Relations Board which recognized that the delivery
service's couriers had the right to unionize. Foodora's exit from
Canada has only one objective, to smash the unionizing efforts of the
couriers. Monopolies should not be able to cut and run without any
obligation to their employees or Canadian society. Workers'
Forum condemns the Foodora decision. It is an affront and
assault by international finance capital on the rights of all Canadian
workers.
 Foodora delivery
workers, calling themselves Foodsters United, fought long and hard to
exercise their right to unionize. They were organizing to be recognized
as a Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers: Foodsters United,
CUPW Courier Local 104. A year ago, on May 1, 2019, they marched to the
Foodora office demanding respect, safety and fair pay. They have
rallied to help each other survive this pandemic by setting up a
hardship fund, distributing personal protective equipment, making sure
workers collect the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and checking in
to make sure they're safe. Now, with this announcement, the delivery
workers continue to support one another to help find solutions
collectively.
Foodora is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delivery
Hero, a Europe-based global monopoly which projects revenues of EUR 2.4
billion to EUR 2.6 billion for 2020 and a year- over-year growth rate
of about 70 per cent. It delivers for 500,000 restaurants globally.
Delivery Hero is also in the process of acquiring TakeAway, the parent
company of a number of Foodora's competitors such as Just Eat, for
approximately U.S. $700 million.
In Canada, Foodora operated in about six cities.
Restaurants pay Foodora up to 30 per cent of the order total. The
customer pays a delivery fee of $4.50 while Foodora pays its couriers
$1/km for the drop-off of the food. That is how Foodora and its parent
company Delivery Hero are making a killing!
Foodora classified its couriers as independent
contractors to avoid its legal obligation to pay for basic benefits
such as Employment Insurance and to exempt itself from recognizing any
basic rights of the workers, such as the right to organize. Foodora's
abuse of the 'independent contractor' classification put all the
financial and physical risks on the couriers, while Foodora kept the
majority of the rewards.
On hearing of Foodora's abrupt withdrawal of
business operations in Canada, Foodsters United, CUPW Courier Local 104
called on the company to reverse its decision and fulfill its
responsibilities to the delivery couriers and to Canadian society.
"These are not the sort of jobs that support our economy," Local 104
said. The couriers are among the most vulnerable workers. "Delivery
Hero is a giant multinational corporation that can more than afford to
continue operations at this time."
Workers' Forum fully supports
the struggle of the Foodsters United couriers. Their struggle is but
one more reason for Canadian workers to step up their efforts to
organize and empower themselves to be the decision makers, in terms of
setting wages and working conditions acceptable to themselves, but also
in setting a new direction for the Canadian economy, one that
guarantees the well-being of the working people and Canadian society
removing them from the clutches of global monopolies like
Foodora/Delivery Hero!
This article was published in
Number 29 - April 30, 2020
Article Link:
Support the Foodster United Courier Workers!
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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