Berlin delivery riders take on $1bn startup

Colleague fired without warning after coming late for shift

Berlin, June 13: Dozens of workers gathered outside of one of Berlin’s most-celebrated start-ups, the grocery delivery company Gorillas, to protest the firing hours earlier of a colleague. “We want Santiago back!” the young riders chanted last week, threatening to blockade one of the company’s inner-city warehouses with their bikes unless he was reinstated.

The wildcat strike on a balmy June evening was unusual even by Germany’s strong tradition of labour rights, highlighting growing tensions in the capital’s freewheeling start-up scene.

“We came here to show our solidarity, to support our friend,” said Zeynep, a Gorillas rider who declined to give her last name for fear of facing repercussions from the company. “We want this decision to be reversed as soon as possible.” The riders said their colleague had been fired without warning after turning up late for his shift.

In a statement, the company said he his contract was terminated for “serious misconduct” but declined to provide details, citing confidentiality. Founded just last year, Gorillas has benefited from surging demand for quick grocery deliveries during the pandemic. In March, the company raised about $290 million from investors, becoming Germany’s fastest ‘unicorn’ — a start-up with a total valuation of $1 billion or more.

Gorillas now operates in dozens of cities across Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain, and has already set its sights on New York, where it faces US incumbents such as Gopuff. But strikes like those in Berlin show trouble is brewing in its home market. The rowdy but peaceful protest late Wednesday drew support from employees of rival delivery services, some of whom downed their colourful courier bags to join the picket. Eventually Gorillas agreed to close the depot for the night, drawing cheers from the protesters.

The next day, riders blockaded another warehouse, making clear their gripes go beyond the firing of a single colleague. “In the last six months, that I’ve been here I’ve noticed so many ways that the company is doing things in an unjustified way,” said rider Huseyin Camalan.

“We’re here to stand against that. It’s part of a larger thing.” Camalan said many riders suffer from back pain. —