A year ago, Anna (not her real name) will spend eight hours a day driving for food delivery platforms Just Eat and Deliveroo for £150 ($200) a day in her home city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Now, to get close to that number, Anna says she has to work 12 hours a day. That was before she subtracted taxes, insurance, and fuel from her earnings.
Like many other foundation workers, Anna – who asked us not to use her real name because she was worried Just Eat might terminate her account – said she is stuck between Wage cuts made by delivery platforms, increased competition for jobs, and rising fuel costs. Anna is dependent on diesel, which has spiked this month in the UK take note 179 pence per liter ($8.95 per gallon), partly in response to the war in Ukraine.
“The increase in fuel and all the cost of living has gone through the roof,” she said. “During this time, Just Eat has reduced prices, and that’s not true.”
Platform workers who say their wages are being eroded by soaring costs will go on strike this week. Anna is planning to join other Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber drivers in a six-hour strike in Belfast on Wednesday, organized by the App Drivers and Transport Union (ADCU). “We’re just trying to get the price back up somewhere where we’re not working at a loss,” she said.
ADCU claims Just Eat has slashed fees by 25%, a figure that Just Eat has disputed, although the company did not provide an alternative figure. That pay cut brings its fees in line with the “already very low” rates paid by other companies operating in the city, including Deliveroo, according to the union. Deliveroo declined to comment on the impact of rising fuel prices on worker earnings.
Similar grievances among Just Eat workers aren’t just raised in Belfast, where the company only employs do-it-yourself couriers – they follow other protests that have taken place across the UK. In March, Just Eat drivers in Kent, southern England also went on strike, demanding higher wages to compensate for soaring fuel prices. Just Eat and Deliveroo drivers have staged several strikes in another town in Essex, eastern England.
“Things are going up, but the amount they pay us is going down, and they’re hiring more people, so it’s becoming oversaturated and there aren’t enough jobs,” said Just Eat driver Jimmy Zane tell local news.
The fuel crisis is sparking protests in another European market important to the contract economy: Germany. Workers at Just Eat’s Lieferando subsidiary also went on strike Tuesday due to rising fuel costs. “Lieferando pays an above-average mileage allowance of 30 cents per kilometer, which is the highest possible amount for tax exemption,” said Nora Walraph, a company spokeswoman. company member said. “With gas prices going up, this is not possible,” he said. ”
