France: platform delivery workers on strike for better wages
They work for UberEats, Deliveroo or Stuart and since November 1 they have had to make deliveries for 1 euro less per kilometer travelled. A lower price at the origin of the protest movement initiated this weekend in several major cities of France.
Protesters against Uber Eats hold up a banner at Place de la République in Paris in September 2022. © RFI / Alexis Bédu
By: RFI Follow
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On bicycles or motorbikes, delivery drivers are paid by the task. A task whose minimum price has fallen below 3 euros. Ever-lower tariffs, in addition to a lack of social protection in the event of an accident or illness. At the call of several unions (Union-Indépendants, the CGT Transport federation and SUD Commerces), rallies are taking place throughout the weekend in Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Paris to denounce the precariousness of these self-employed workers.
Since October 10, a new system has been set up by Uber Eats in the cities of Lille, Rouen and Valence, to "value the time spent making the trip", according to the platform. Generalized since November 1, this new pricing "may vary some rides upwards and others downwards, but does not aim to reduce the average remuneration per trip," Uber Eats told AFP on Friday, which said it had even noted "a slight increase in average revenue per trip of 1.4%" in pilot cities.
But delivery drivers say they are living in a different reality. Despite the cold, a few dozen of them gathered on the Place Stalingrad in Paris, union vests on their backs and some with bicycles in hand.
Thousands of delivery workers are on strike across France for wage increases and improved working conditions.
France must support the adoption of the European directive guaranteeing a presumption of salaried employment for platform workers! pic.twitter.com/KFTiroYjjr
— Sophie Binet (@BinetSophie) December 2, 2023
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Platform delivery drivers have been suffering pay cuts since the platforms were set up in France, explains Ludovic Riou, union delegate at the CGT transport federation, at the microphone of Louise Garcia of RFI. And the drop that occurred at UberEats in particular on November 1 is significant, insofar as it caused a drop in remuneration that means that you can start with an order at 2.85 euros at Uber, which was already the case at Deliveroo where it was at 2.63 euros. These conditions do not allow us to live with dignity, which is why the CGT, alongside the inter-union union, has called for a weekend strike on December 2 and 3 with a common demand for a significant increase in wages and for the CGT, the payment of waiting times and the payment of dues by the platforms.
»Better pay and working conditions
Among the angry delivery drivers was Walid, in his thirties, whom he met on Saturday. It will not deliver any orders. Lately, he's been struggling to make a living, even though he's working for three platforms simultaneously. "We've noticed that there are more and more orders at €2.50, €2.60, and we're even receiving double orders at €3 or €4," he told Louise Garcia.
On strike, these delivery workers are demanding better pay, protection against accidents and sick leave... Some say they have to deliver every day, even weekends and holidays, just to meet the minimum wage. Working more to earn less, that's what these workers are reduced to with the new pricing decided by delivery platforms, says Ludovic Riou, of the CGT. "If we want to bring in at least... 2,000 euros – not to mention the fact that we don't have paid holidays, that delivery people have to pay for their equipment themselves, that there are no contributions that allow you to be properly insured in the event of sick leave, and not at all in the event of an accident at work – it would take several dozen, thirty, forty, fifty hours a week for that.
»Supporting policies
Extreme conditions that lead to exhaustion. More than 60% of them say they work for several platforms at once, according to figures given by Ubereats. Working conditions that are akin to modern slavery, denounced several elected officials who came to support the demonstrators. "It creates a situation of modern slavery," protested David Belliard, elected mayor of Paris, a city where "meal deliveries have exploded in recent years." According to LFI MP Danièle Simonet, who was present at the Paris rally, the platforms are using their promise to pay a minimum of €11.75 per hour to "lower the price of groceries" for delivery drivers, these "taskers of the <>st century".
The exploitation of delivery drivers paid €2 to €3 per ride, that's enough! Present at the historic rally of Uber Eats delivery drivers who are fighting, in more than 60 cities, against the unilateral reduction of their salaries! Macron must stop being an ally of the outlaw platforms! pic.twitter.com/gtxMd9EWKv
— Danielle Simonnet (@SimonnetDeputee) December 2, 2023
Protests by independent delivery drivers, who in France are some 65,000 to go through Uber Eats, had already taken place in November and last year.
Listen alsoUndocumented delivery drivers, low-paid drivers, when the Uber model falters
(and with agencies)
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