DRIVEN TO DESPAIR
Delivery staff slam job conditions
Craig McDonald Delivery workers for internet giants Amazon have been queuing up to reveal their gruelling employment conditions.
We revealed last week that drivers are forced to work for weeks without getting paid.
The onl ine shopping f irm’s subcontractor UK Express Delivery avoid basic employment legislation by taking on workers as self-employed agents.
Drivers are asked to put all their wages towards a £ 1500 “retainer fund”, meaning they don’t see a penny in wages for weeks.
Meanwhile, UK Express owner Rajesh Chauhan drives a Rolls-Royce and lives in a £ 1.4million villa in Birmingham. His firm supply drivers to Amazon’s British bases.
Former worker Suky Gahier praised the Sunday Mail for shedding light on the contractor’s practices.
He worked out of depots at Eurocentral in Lanarkshire and Kinning Park, Glasgow, but said he quit after weeks of stress over delivery targets.
Dad-of-one Suky, 36, of Bearsden, Glasgow, claimed he is still owed £ 1282 from his £ 1500 “retainer” despite finishing with the company four weeks ago. He said: “I worked for UK Express from last November to the end of February and it wasn’t pleasant.
“They constantly badger you while you’re on the road and I believe this is dangerous. I couldn’t even take time to eat and had to use a bottle instead of going to the toilet.”
Another driver, Michael McCarter, 63, of Maybole, Ayrshire, said: “The whole ethos is just totally depressing.
“I have worked for many companies and have never experienced anything like UK Express in my life.”
We told last week how driver Barry Scade, 34, of Stewarton, Ayrshire, said taking the job was “one of the biggest mistakes” of his life. He added: “I worked for nothing for weeks.”
Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, has called for an investigation into UK Express.
The firm claim drivers who use their own van do not have to pay rental and that the £1500 is a security retainer on the van.
The company say in a week when a driver works five days, they will earn £468.80. They also claim routes are scheduled to take nine hours .
A spokesman said: “As a selfemployed contractor, they are free to take as much holiday as they want.”
Amazon said: “As independent contractors of our delivery providers, drivers deliver at their own pace, take breaks at their discretion and are able to choose the suggested route or develop their own.”