Deliveroo is not a British success story – it’s a national tragedy for workers’ rights

If gig economy companies are left unregulated and allowed to deny workers basic rights, says Alex Marshall, it will set a dangerous precedent

We must protect the rights of all workers (Getty Images)

Deliveroo is being hailed by Rishi Sunak as a “British success story”, but behind the slick PR the company is battling its own workers and a rising tide of strikes, direct action and litigation around the world. 

The pressure appears to be working – the company flopped today in its London Stock Exchange debut, with investors shunning the firm’s initial public offering and citing concerns about its gig economy working practices. But the fight isn’t over yet and we need to continue raising awareness of the significant risks associated with this increasingly unstable business model.

Eight years ago I worked as a gig economy bicycle courier for a different company. Drawn in by the promise of independence and flexible work, I soon realised I’d cycled straight into a Venus flytrap. My experience was similar to many Deliveroo riders. Pay barely covered costs and without annual leave or pension contributions, I couldn’t afford to take time off even when I was ill. I was hurried and harassed every hour of the day and went to work every day with the knowledge I could be terminated for no reason and with no due process. Far from being flexible, my hours just got longer as I struggled to make ends meet.

I couldn’t understand how these gig economy companies got away with claiming we were independent contractors, denying basic rights while paying us a pittance. So I joined a trade union, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), and am now its president. When couriers were dubbed “key workers” by the government, there was hope for change, but things have gone from bad to worse over the course of the pandemic.

Deliveroo riders work in fear of falling ill without sick pay, and many have not been able to access the Rider Support Fund, introduced as a temporary measure so workers could afford to self-isolate. Many riders still struggle to get personal protective equipment (PPE) and the company hasn’t taken action to secure couriers access to toilets while working through lockdown.

The IWGB also supports growing numbers of riders who allege they have been “clapped and scrapped” – arbitrarily terminated on vague or inaccurate grounds. Backed by a cross-party group of more than 70 MPs, we are campaigning for a fair terminations process. Many people don’t realise that reporting a late order can cost a courier their job, no questions asked. For those unfamiliar with the gig economy, it comes as a shock to learn that the person delivering your meal might be struggling to put food on their own table. 

Read more:

• Deliveroo IPO: as criticism grows over workers’ rights, is the loss-making app really worth £7.6bn?
• Covid has highlighted injustices in the workplace – now we need action
• Deliveroo riders to go on strike as investigation reveals pay as low as £2 per hour

Unions have long warned that if gig economy companies are left unregulated and are allowed to deny workers basic rights that were intended to be universal, it will set a dangerous precedent, and this risk is increasing. In Britain, the gig economy is expected to swell post-pandemic. With rising unemployment, this situation could be normalised for a whole generation of increasingly precarious workers unless we act now. But while Will Shu, Deliveroo’s CEO, brags about the company’s record profits throughout the pandemic (though they still made a loss in 2020), that’s only half the story; the half they want you to hear. 

The other half is that in almost all of the 12 countries where Deliveroo operates, couriers are standing up for themselves. In Germany, Deliveroo realised their business model was not able to dominate the market and just packed up and left thousands of couriers jobless – but they can’t run away everywhere. Earlier this month, a Dutch court ruled that Deliveroo was misclassifying its workers as independent contractors to avoid responsibility for holiday, sick pay and other employment entitlements. Spanish courts have also ruled against this practice of “fake self-employment”.

Meanwhile, Italy’s largest trade union won their case proving Deliveroo’s algorithm was discriminating against couriers who took strike action. Over the weekend, riders in Italy were joined by counterparts in Australia and France in an international strike against the company. Led by the workers themselves, trade unions and civil society groups are finally turning the tide and holding Deliveroo to account. 

Deliveroo’s longstanding claim that workers’ rights would come at the cost of flexibility is also being exposed as false by leading competitor Just Eat. In the UK, Just Eat is turning against the practice of “fake self-employment”, trialling secure contracts in London and Birmingham and has formed an agreement with a Danish workers’ union that provides both flexibility and security. A recent Supreme Court decision declaring Uber drivers as workers is another blow to the myth that Deliveroo perpetuates, with Uber’s CEO applauding that workers in the UK can have flexibility and improved rights. 

Ahead of the stock market launch and the 7 April riders’ strike in the UK, we have seen 11 investment groups – and counting – reject buying shares in Deliveroo. They all cited concerns over workers’ rights and Deliveroo’s employment model. In a recent Bureau of Investigative Journalism report, it was found that many riders made less than the minimum wage, with some receiving as little as £2 an hour. This caught widespread attention, including that of footballer and free school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford, who has committed to raising the issue of exploitation with the company.

Union organising has built enormous pressure on this “gig giant” at every level and workers will continue to push until their rights are granted.

As we emerge from the third lockdown, this question of what work will look like in the “new normal” cuts to the heart of what kind of economy we want to work in: one where workers are routinely cheated out of basic rights on a technicality, or one that upholds the value of a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.

With bad press, litigation and industrial action on the rise, the tide is turning. Internationally, riders are taking action, and investors who back them won’t just be standing on the right side of history – they’ll help make it.

Alex Marshall is the president of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which has called for a strike against Deliveroo on 7 April