Delivery people working for the Deliveroo and Ubert Eats platforms in Nantes (illustration).

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S. Salom-Gomis / Sipa

  • The ban decree of the city of Nantes took effect on Monday, March 8.

  • The measure greatly complicates the work of young delivery men working for Uber Eats or Deliveroo.

  • A three-day strike is announced in protest.

“If we each stay in our own corner, we are dead.

But if we act together we can make things happen.

Since the start of the week, Nantes delivery men working for the Uber Eats or Deliveroo platforms have been in disarray.

The town hall of Nantes in fact forbids them to circulate in pedestrian areas with a non-electric scooter from 11:30 am.

Objective: to reduce noise pollution and the risk of accidents.

But this measure greatly complicates the task of the majority of them who preferred the scooter to the bicycle to respond more quickly to commands and thus earn "a little more money".

In protest, some of the delivery men announced that they would go on strike “all weekend” and “from Friday evening”.

“We no longer have a choice.

It is not possible not to react, ”they explain.

Thursday afternoon, around thirty of them gathered in the city center to discuss the strike.

While most of them have not yet given up on the scooter in a pedestrian zone, several have already tried the experiment.

They explain the difficulty of sometimes adding "10 minutes of walking on the outward journey, 10 minutes on the return", while the platforms encourage people to collect two orders at the same time, in two different places.

“We're wasting too much time.

Orders arrive cold, the customer will blame us.

And then it's a lot of fatigue.

We're not going to hold out, ”worries Jean-Michel, who works for Uber Eats.

"We are not respected, we are an easy target"

Sognonty, he chose to push his scooter by hand, engine off.

“I don't want to risk having it stolen from me.

There are three to four delivery men a week who have their scooters stolen, do you realize?

And you can't afford an electric scooter [allowed in pedestrian streets], it's way too expensive.

"

A delivery man working for Uber Eats place Royale in Nantes.

- F. Brenon / 20Minutes

Their discussions spill over into their working conditions.

In turn, they tell of the "extended days, until 11:30 pm, to earn barely 80 euros", the wait in the rain, the "bad mood" of certain restaurateurs, the untimely account blockings of the platforms. after customer reviews, the “attacks” in certain neighborhoods… “We are not respected.

We are isolated, an easy target, ”laments Xey, delivery man for Deliveroo.

“The status of autoentrepreneur does not give us any recognition.

We worked hard during the Covid, we are not entitled to anything.

If we hurt ourselves, we are not entitled to anything.

The same if our account is blocked, ”adds Jean-Michel.

"If we can no longer earn a living how do we do?

I have children, ”his neighbor warns.

Gathering this Friday noon

Exasperated, they report, photo in support, having "already received verbalizations" drawn up by the national police when the municipality had promised tolerance until April 1.

Several also claim to have seen their accounts blocked by the platforms just after participating in a demonstration Monday noon, which had resulted in an interruption of service.

"We were geolocated, for sure," Xey considers.

A new gathering of the profession is announced this Friday noon on the forecourt Feydeau.

The organizers are asking the town hall for the provision of electric scooters and the platforms for a “guaranteed income”.

They call on "a maximum of delivery men" to join the movement.

They also invite restaurant owners, necessarily penalized by the coming strike, to “come and support us”.

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  • Economy

  • Uber

  • Delivery

  • Scooter

  • Deliveroo

  • Nantes