“Deliveroo riders go on strike as company’s shares begin open trading after disastrous IPO”, 07 April 2021

Deliveroo riders staged strike action on Wednesday on the first day that ordinary investors could buy and sell the company’s shares on the stock market.

The company flopped last week in what has been labelled London’s worst ever stock market debut…

Investors, including some of the UK's largest pension fund managers, shunned the share sale over concerns about workers' rights and a structure that allowed founder Will Shu to keep control.

Around 400 riders switched off the app on Wednesday to pressure Deliveroo to grant them basic workers’ rights, according to the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB).

The IWGB is calling for holiday pay, sick pay, a guaranteed living wage and an end to unpaid waiting times. The union also wants Deliveroo to allow riders to bargain collectively over pay and working conditions.

The industrial action comes after research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found riders earned as little as £2 an hour…

Deliveroo’s main competitor Just Eat has declared its intention to abandon the gig economy model reliant on self-employed contractors…

The Supreme Court ruled in February that Uber drivers were workers, not independent contractors…

Alex Marshall, President (IWGB) and former bicycle courier, said: “Deliveroo presents a false choice between flexibility and basic rights…

A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “This small, self-appointed union does not represent the vast majority of riders who tell us they value the total flexibility they enjoy while working with Deliveroo alongside the ability to earn over £13 an hour.