IWGB

A number of countries, including the US and France, are seeing waves or flurries of strikes as workers try to gain or make up ground as economies revive after lockdowns. Here, pay in the private sector is rising but inflation is rising faster, with the left-Blairite Resolution Foundation noting that "real wages are already falling and are likely to continue to do so for the next six months”. In the public sector the government is seeking to impose even more real-terms cuts after more than a decade of huge cumulative losses. There is a wave of attacks on pay, terms and conditions as bosses try...

On Monday 6 December, Stuart Delivery, which does deliveries for online takeaway retailer JustEat, implemented a 24% cut in the per-delivery base rate of pay for couriers in Sheffield. The pay cut had already been postponed for over a month, following a militant display from Sheffield drivers. The 6 December strike was solid. Drivers maintained picket lines at seven of the nine McDonald's restaurants across the city. As a result of strong picketing but also sympathy among McDonald's staff, all but two of the strike-hit McDonald's branches turned off their JustEat tablets. This effectively...

On Sunday 28 November Sheffield’s JustEat couriers — who are employed by the gig-economy contractor Stuart — held a demonstration through central Sheffield against an impending pay cut. They were supported by the city’s Trades Council, labour movement and left. They are members of the IWGB union and have been organising in the city for two years with the help of members and friends of Workers’ Liberty, who were also central to organising this demonstration. Olivia Blake, MP for Sheffield Hallam spoke on their platform, as did representatives of GMB health workers, Unite and UCU members at...

Sheffield’s JustEat food courier workforce – employed by gig-economy firm Stuart – is set to demonstrate on Sunday 28 November and strike from 6 December, against a 24% pay cut. JustEat couriers, organised in IWGB, were previously able to win a postponement of this pay cut, in Sheffield only, following a militant response. As gig-economy firm Stuart is clearly in turmoil, having lost a big chunk of their JustEat contract to competitor Scoober, drivers now hope to be able to defeat the pay cut once and for all. Sheffield Labour MPs have spoken out in support of the IWGB couriers, including...

In Sheffield, with the help of Workers’ Liberty activists and supporters, food couriers working for JustEat delivery partner Stuart have been organising in the IWGB union in two fights: over job security and pay. On Friday 22 October, the threat of strike action forced Stuart into a U-turn over a planned pay cut. In August, JustEat’s CEO Jitse Groen wrote to Sheffield MP Paul Blomfield to say that JustEat would move its delivery operation over from Stuart to Scoober in the first half of 2022. Where this has been done in other cities, the existing Stuart delivery fleet has not been transferred...

Brazilian delivery riders in São Paulo state have been on strike demanding better pay and conditions from the apps they work for. They have made links with couriers’ union IWGB here. Watch their message of solidarity ("Good morning, English!") As the IWGB says: “The striking riders suffer from the same problems that we do in the UK, from unfair account terminations to low delivery fees and unpaid waiting times… Our unity must be as international as the apps and their investors.” The IWGB is collecting funds to support the Brazilian comrades here . A small donation of pounds goes a long way.

In Royal Parks, outsourced cleaners and attendants demonstrated on 30 August, part of a two-week strike against job cuts and for improved conditions [workers at the rally above]. The contractor, Just Ask, has already back off from its original plan to cut 33% of all jobs. On 9 September, they’re due to write to us with a new proposal. Some of our next steps will depend on that. There’s also a positive aspect to the dispute, including the demand for full sick pay. Royal Parks has admitted that the previous contractor had agreed to implement 18 weeks’ full sick pay entitlement to all staff...

Deliveroo couriers in the Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain (IWGB) have been knocked back for the fourth time in their legal challenge aimed at forcing Deliveroo to recognise couriers as “Limb B workers” — a legal category distinct from both salaried workers (“employees”) and self-employed contractors, which Deliveroo insists its couriers are. Limb B workers are self-employed and work flexibly, but do not set their own rates of pay in the way a self-employed tradesperson might. Had the IWGB’s case been successful, Deliveroo would have been forced to increase courier wages and...

Ride sharing and food courier app Uber has signed an agreement with the GMB union. The agreement covers Uber drivers, but excludes Uber Eats couriers. According to the GMB, the agreement allows them to discuss issues including “national earnings principles”, pensions, and discretionary benefits. The agreement does not, however, enable the GMB to collectively bargain in a formal sense, and submit claims on pay and conditions on behalf of drivers. Following a legal challenge initiated by Uber drivers, who were then members of the GMB, Uber has been forced to recognise drivers as employees...

Henry Chango Lopez (pictured above, centre, before the pandemic) is the new General Secretary of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB). He spoke to Sacha Ismail. In recent years the IWGB has had a high profile in part because it’s grown quite a lot when trade unions in general have stagnated. Why is that? It’s really just about the situation of workers at the moment, the way the economy is, outsourcing, precarious employment – these are problems that many unions have not tackled. Unions do not effectively organise workers in these situations. The problem is so wide...