will shu deliveroo

Source: Deliveroo

  • The group of 44 MPs includes Green Party leader Caroline Lucas and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

  • Their letter calls on CEO Will Shu to provide PPE for all riders, full pay for self-isolating couriers, and regular testing

 

A cross-party group of 44 MPs have written to Deliveroo CEO Will Shu demanding better protections for couriers during the coronavirus crisis.

The coalition – including Conservative MP and Father of the House of Commons Sir Peter Bottomley, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – have listed six demands in their letter, which was organised by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB).

The letter calls on Shu to provide PPE for all riders, full pay for clinically vulnerable and self-isolating couriers, and regular testing. It also demands the company provides “a real living wage plus costs, holiday pay and sick pay” during the pandemic and halts rider contract terminations until the end of the crisis.

“The Covid-19 crisis has shone a spotlight on how ‘gig economy’ companies treat their workers, in particular Deliveroo,” the letter states.

“It is only reasonable to expect [couriers] are compensated for providing such a vital service, especially given the high-risk conditions in which they operate,” it continues.

The MPs add that “thousands of people are currently being put at risk by your actions” and the company’s failure to meet their demands “would be highly irresponsible and counter efforts to slow the spread of the virus”.

Deliveroo said that its riders “are at the heart of everything we do and we are working hard to support them during this unprecedented time”. A company spokeswoman said Deliveroo had distributed PPE to “all riders who request it in the UK” and was supporting them financially if they are unwell.

The company has so far ordered 135,000 masks and 150,000 hand sanitisers, and delivered tens of thousands. It is reimbursing riders up to £20 to cover PPE purchases as an “interim policy”.

 

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A support fund has been established to provide £100 a week for the period couriers need to self-isolate, which the company emphasised was higher than the rate of Statutory Sick Pay available to its employees. According to the union, many riders have struggled to access the funds as they must provide proof from a doctor they have the virus, which is difficult to obtain.

Deliveroo said the MPs’ and union’s demand for a living wage and sick pay was “incompatible” with its model of couriers being independent, self-employed contractors. The company added that rider contract terminations needed to be made, for example for riders who fail to abide by social distancing requirements as reported by The Grocer last month.

“We are incredibly grateful and proud of the vital role riders are playing in their communities, helping the public, including the vulnerable and isolated, receive the food they need and want. We have dedicated teams on hand to support riders every step of the way through this crisis,” the Deliveroo spokeswoman said.

Deliveroo courier and IWGB couriers & logistics branch secretary Greg Howard said that Deliveroo had “built its business model on precarity and poverty pay” which has “only been exacerbated” during the pandemic.

“As Deliveroo is increasingly delivering to vulnerable people, it is not only riders that are being put at risk through this questionable business model, but the public as a whole. This work is vital and it can be done safely, but only if Deliveroo invests in the safety and the rights of its riders,” Howard said.

An anonymous Deliveroo courier, quoted by the union, said that his wife was clinically high-risk and “petrified” by the lack of protection and social distancing at his work.

“Every day she begs me not to go to work but if I don’t, we’ll be homeless. We have three children. We don’t want to risk their mother’s life but we don’t want them to be destitute, either. What am I supposed to do? Drivers and customers are dying because of Deliveroo’s failure to take action,” the rider said.

The union has launched a petition backing the demands in the letter, which says Deliveroo’s actions to protect riders have been “token gestures and patronising stunts” which “don’t cover our bills or protect us”.

Deliveroo said that it didn’t accept that the IWGB represented the views of the majority of riders and said last week a poll of riders found sentiment towards the company to be the highest in two years.

The full list of signatories are: Zarah Sultana MP, Kate Osamor MP, Nadia Whittome MP, Kate Osborne MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ian Byrne MP, Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, Mary Kelly Foy MP, Grahame Morris MP, Claudia Webbe MP, Kim Johnson MP, Beth Winter MP, Clive Lewis MP, Liam Byrne MP, Chris Stephens MP, Kerry McCarthy MP, Derek Twigg MP, Jon Cruddas MP, Mhairi Black MP, Mike Amesbury MP, Dawn Butler MP, Lilian Greenwood MP, Jack Dromey MP, Fleur Anderson MP, Mohammad Yasin MP, Yvonne Fovargue MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Diane Abbott MP, Lord John Hendy QC, Rosie Cooper MP, Debbie Abrahams MP, John McDonnell MP, Richard Burgon MP, Paula Barker MP, Jon Trickett MP, Navendu Mishra MP, Sam Tarry MP, Mick Whitley MP, Virendra Sharma MP, Ruth Cadbury MP, Rupa Huq MP, Ian Mearns MP, Peter Bottomley MP, Apsana Begum MP, Ian Lavery MP.

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