Paris (AFP)
"We can no longer live with this job": Wissem swallows 700 kilometers per week to deliver cooked meals on a scooter in the Parisian suburbs.
If confinement has increased demand, salaries are stagnant and the demands of couriers remain a dead letter, he told AFP.
At 6 p.m. that evening, seven couriers were already waiting in the cold before the shooting in Courbevoie, north-west of Paris, facing one of the Deliveroo Editions, these kitchens that the company makes available to partner restaurateurs and whose releases a production exclusively intended for delivery.
Half an hour later, there are about twenty.
Among them, Wissem Inal, 32, stocky, growing beard on a round face.
This "multi-platform" delivery man, readily caustic on the phone with the customer, has worked for Deliveroo since 2017, but also other companies like Uber Eats and Stuart.
The young Algerian, who lives in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), put his activity as a graphic designer on hold in the face of declining demand due to the health crisis.
He delivers six to ten orders every evening, between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
"At the moment, with the confinement, I take out 500 euros net per month", he explains to AFP, showing the screen of his smartphone, on which is displayed his balance sheet for the last months: 883.35 euros in October, 506.93 euros in November ... "Obviously, you withdraw 22% of taxes, and that does not take into account my charges such as equipment and fuel!", he hastens to specify.
Wissem admits having struggled to "see the bright side" of his job in recent months, criticizing the "fuzzy" operation of the Deliveroo algorithm.
"I would like the delivery men to be remunerated at their fair value. Today, a race can be worth 6 euros at noon and the same 3 euros at night. You can't live with this job any longer, unless you become slaves" , he blurted out.
He himself joined the Parisian Autonomous Delivery Collective (Clap), dedicated to the defense of auto-entrepreneurs like him, in 2018, "as soon as they began to touch our pockets," he explains.
- Be listened to -
End of remuneration for waiting time, of the "rain bonus" or the floor of remuneration for races ... Wissem lists the reasons for discontent before pointing to a "climate of fear" and a lack of listening to the company.
Example: deliverers asked Deliveroo to reduce the number of clicks needed on their smartphone before contacting the customer to warn of the arrival of the order.
"It takes six clicks to call the customer right now. We just want a more direct button, it doesn't sound like much, but we're on the road when we call and it can be dangerous. We weren't listened to. ", he regrets.
For his first order of the evening, Wissem traveled more than 10 kilometers between Courbevoie and Houilles, "a big race" for which he pocketed 3.50 euros net.
If Wissem "likes to ride", his right glove torn on the back of his hand illustrates the risks of the trade.
In 2018, the courier suffered a rupture of the cruciate ligaments after an accident during a delivery.
“Six months of hardship,” he recalls.
Along the way, Wissem skilfully slaloms between cars and debris on the road.
"It feels like + Mario Kart + sometimes", he squeaks, his finger on the horn, always "concentrated and in anticipation".
At the exit of a tunnel of the A86 motorway, a white van pulls out without flashing on the left lane, almost unseating the delivery man, invisible in the blind spot.
Despite the danger, Wissem does not intend to give up working for platforms, notably Deliveroo.
“The application itself is good,” he emphasizes.
"But we must be able to defend ourselves for our interests", he argues, determined to continue to mobilize "colleagues" around him.
© 2020 AFP