Free couriers' leader Kirill Ukraintsev!

Michael Baker: Kirill Ukraintsev, leader of the Courier trade union, has been put in pre-trial detention until 25 June with a charge of "calling or participating in an unauthorised gathering on more than two occasions in the space of 180 days". He faces a sentence of up to five years — all this because he is the head of the only trade union organising delivery drivers across Russia, at a time when the majority migrant workforce is being squeezed tighter than ever by the bosses. We publish below a translation of the union's May Day demands on Delivery Club and the Russian government.

Dale Street: At the end of April Kirill Ukraintsev, leader of the Russian trade union Courier, was placed under two months of pre-trial detention until 25 June by the Savelovsky Regional Court in Moscow.

Courier was created in 2020 by Moscovite couriers – some cyclists, some drivers – working for the Delivery Club (DC) company.

Their first action was a protest outside the company’s offices in June 2020, triggered by increases in the distances which cyclist couriers had to cover, the imposition of increasingly harsh financial penalties, and inadequate expenses for petrol for courier drivers.

Since then Courier has continued to stage protests and strikes demanding better terms and conditions – including proper contracts – for DC couriers, as well as publicising attacks on couriers working for other companies, such as Yandex.Food.

On six occasions prior to his current imprisonment Ukraintsev had already been arrested, fined (up to 20,000 rubles), or detained (for between five and ten days) for his role in organising unauthorised protests.

In April of this year DC increased its mileage payments to couriers – but simultaneously cut payments-per-delivery. This left DC couriers worse off by an average of a thousand rubles a day (roughly, about £10), amounting to a 20% pay cut – at a time of rising inflation.

A Courier statement posted on Telegram explained the reasons for this latest attack on pay:

“The trade union has already reported on the repressive policies being pursued by the delivery companies and on how they are making savings at the expense of couriers. And even earlier we warned of the possibility of such a situation occurring because of the ‘special operation’. [In Putin’s Russia a war cannot be called a war.] Passing on the consequences of the crisis to waged workers is in full swing.”

A subsequent statement by Courier announced a three-day strike (22 to 24 April) by DC couriers. The strike was followed by a protest by about 30 couriers outside the DC offices on 25 April.

Police intervened and took a dozen of them into detention, along with the journalist Yegor Baranov, who was covering the protest for the “Workers Control” online newspaper. All were released without charge.

Later the same day Ukraintsev’s home was raided by the police, who seized his PC, laptop and smartphones. Having been taken into detention, Ukraintsev appeared before the Savelovsky Regional Court on 27 April.

Ukraintsev was charged under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. In force since 2014, the Article has created a special offence of calling or participating in an unauthorised gathering on more than two occasions in the space of 180 days.

Only six other people have been charged under Article 212.1 during the eight years it has been in force. Ukraintsev is the first person to be charged under the Article in relation to trade union – as opposed to political – meetings.

Maxim Shulgin, the Courier Organising Secretary, has condemned the imprisonment of Ukraintsev as “an attempt to drive the leader of the trade union out of activity” and as an action “carried out as an order placed by Delivery Club”.

Ukraintsev’s imprisonment sums up Putin’s Russia: war in Ukraine, war on workers’ living standards and rights in Russia, and repression and imprisonment for those who dare to fight back.

• An online petition in English with the union’s demands is here

• Petition in Russian here

May Day message from "Courier" trade union

May Day greetings, friends!

The meaning of the phrase "class struggle" is now very clear to all of us.

Kirill Ukraintsev is in a pre-trial detention centre only because he has stood up for the rights of delivery workers.

The corporate bosses are trying to resolve the rising level of conflict between business and couriers by repressing the leader of an independent trade union.

Kirill is at risk of a real prison sentence. And the companies are not thinking about any improvements to the working conditions and rates of pay of their workers.

The persecution of the leader of the only trade union which defends them means just one thing: The labour of a courier will be further devalued.

We have not received any clear explanation concerning the new pay system and the fact that the arrest of Kirill Ukraintsev occurred during a period of spontaneous protests by couriers in Moscow working for the VK and Sberbank companies, which own Delivery Club.

As of today we are therefore launching a solidarity campaign.

Join the Boycott!

1) Uninstall the Delivery Club app.

2) Post comments on apps in Google Play demanding a return to the rates of pay for couriers which were in operation at the beginning of April, and demanding the immediate release of Kirill Ukraintsev.

3) Make a video and take a photo with placards supporting Kirill and the couriers with the hashtag #профсоюзнепреступление. Send your materials to our trade union group on VK or the Solidarity Platform chatbot: t.me/solidarity_feedback_bot. Materials for printing are at: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bo0Q8MoTwq9soIXDI-ffvVLs23FJL05R

Join the Strike!

1) Quite apart from the fact that spring is a time when a fall in demand results in seasonal reductions in courier numbers, Delivery Club has significantly cut rates of pay. Only collective absences from shifts can force them to take us into account. Big companies engage in talks only when this impacts on their profits.

2) The reinstatement of those dismissed, the withdrawal of fines, and assistance with getting wages paid, - this was far from being all that Kirill was involved in as trade union president. He helped very many people, and now it is very important to help him! A strike will result in information about the fabricated case against Kirill being disseminated.

Couriers are not slaves! Solidarity is our weapon! Free Kirill Ukraintsev!