UK: Migrant gig workers living in "caravan shantytowns" on low pay, despite long hours; incl. co. comments
Riepilogo
Date Reported: 24 Ago 2024
Location: Regno Unito
Companies
Deliveroo - ClientAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brasile , Express delivery , Women , Unknown migration status )Issues
Living Wage , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Mental Health , Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exileResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Deliveroo said it was “very concerned” about riders living in unsuitable conditions and would contact Bristol city council. A spokesperson added: “Deliveroo offers the flexible work riders tell us they want, attractive earning opportunities and protections including free insurance, sickness cover, financial support when riders become new parents and a range of training opportunities.” Later reporting by The Guardian says migrants living in the camp were raided by immigration enforcement officials. They accuse the UK government of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than the companies profiting from this 'hidden economy'. A Deliveroo spokesperson said all its riders must have the legal right to work in the UK. “We are the first major platform to roll out direct right-to-work checks, a registration process and identity verification technology for all riders. We are committed to strengthening our controls to prevent abuse of our platform.” It added that it offers riders attractive earning opportunities and protections including free insurance, sickness cover and financial support when riders become new parents.
Source type: News outlet
Riepilogo
Date Reported: 24 Ago 2024
Location: Regno Unito
Companies
Uber Eats - ClientAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brasile , Express delivery , Women , Unknown migration status ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brasile , Express delivery , Men , Unknown migration status )Issues
Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Mental Health , Access to electricity , Right to Food , Living Wage , Protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or exileResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: Uber said Uber Eats offered a flexible way for thousands of couriers to earn money: “Couriers can access a range of protections, including on-trip insurance, when they work with us, and we regularly engage with couriers to look at how we can improve their experience.” Later reporting by The Guardian says migrants living in the camp were raided by immigration enforcement officials. They accuse the UK government of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than the companies profiting from this 'hidden economy'. An Uber Eats spokesperson said that all couriers must hold a valid right to work in the UK: “Any courier that fails to meet these criteria will no longer be able to use the Uber Eats app. We regularly engage with the Home Office and the police to ensure that all couriers using the app comply with UK laws.”
Source type: News outlet
"‘I wouldn’t wish this on anyone’: the food delivery riders living in ‘caravan shantytowns’ in Bristol,"
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It has become much harder for riders to make a living from food deliveries as they claim their earnings have not kept pace with price rises.
While the national living wage is £11.44 an hour, food delivery companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats do not formally employ their riders. Instead, they are gig economy workers, paid for each individual delivery. That means workers can end up earning far less than the minimum wage...
The riders look out for each other, as they say they receive little support from the platforms they log into every day. They protect mopeds, fix each other’s punctures and raise money for injured or sick workers. One compares the kerbside community to a union or “sindicato” and another to a favela – a working-class shantytown in Brazil.
Some still feel vulnerable to street violence. Lorena is scared anti-immigrant protesters may burn their homes. “We feel threatened,” she says...
On the other side of the road, another rider is getting ready to go out on his moped. Freitas, 32, is a qualified pharmacist in Brazil but delivers takeaways in the UK. Figures on his Uber Eats app show he was paid on average £3.43 a delivery. “I studied for five years. I wouldn’t like to tell my family what’s going on here,” he says.
He is desperate to move because his caravan has no power, no heating and nowhere to cook. The windows leak over his bed when it rains. “It is a struggle to live like this. You have to wrap yourself in a blanket at night,” he explains. “Many of the people who stay here end up having mental problems because they live in a small cube.”...
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) – which led the unsuccessful legal campaign to secure employment rights for riders – said the Bristol encampment was “emblematic of the misery mass-produced by the gig economy”. Maritza Castillo Calle, IWGB vice-president, accused delivery companies of slashing riders’ pay to push up their bottom line. “We must make no mistake that Deliveroo posted its first-ever profit last week as a direct result of its workers facing new depths of deprivation,” she says.
Deliveroo said it was “very concerned” about riders living in unsuitable conditions and would contact Bristol city council. A spokesperson added: “Deliveroo offers the flexible work riders tell us they want, attractive earning opportunities and protections including free insurance, sickness cover, financial support when riders become new parents and a range of training opportunities.”
Uber said Uber Eats offered a flexible way for thousands of couriers to earn money: “Couriers can access a range of protections, including on-trip insurance, when they work with us, and we regularly engage with couriers to look at how we can improve their experience.”
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