Food couriers working for Deliveroo, UberEats and JustEat staged a protest in Luton on the night of 27 September, speaking out against low pay. Over 100 drivers participated in a protest outside McDonald’s which ran from 10am to midnight.
Speaking to Luton Today, one driver said: “Before, we used to make around 15 to 20 deliveries a day, but now that they are employing more drivers it’s gone down to around five or six a day. Some people are working from 7am to around 2.30am the next day just to make a living.” The Luton couriers are in contact with the IWGB union.
From December 2021 to summer 2022, a national strike movement swept the UK food delivery gig economy. Sparked by a strike that began in Sheffield with the assistance of the local branch of Workers’ Liberty, couriers organised with the IWGB to strike against Stuart, a subcontractor which serves JustEat, to demand an increase in pay.
The national strike action spread across the north of England and won some small concessions from the employer. But the annual summer lull arrived before it was possible to spread the strike and consolidate organisation sufficiently to win. The national strike campaign was suspended in the summer and couriers are still mulling when to re-start their national fight. With petrol prices up, and as delivery business picks up again, with the cold weather, the arguments to renew the fight are becoming stronger.