Takeaway riders plot Valentine’s Day strike

THOUSANDS of takeaway delivery drivers will strike on Valentine’s Day in a row over pay and ‘appalling’ working conditions.

The wildcat strike will hit operators Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats and Stuart between 5pm and 10pm on Wednesday, one of the busiest nights of the year for takeaways as couples enjoy a romantic night in.

Organisers say the February 14 mutiny will be larger than a Friday night strike involving more than 3,000 couriers in London, Glasgow and Brighton earlier this month. Five people were arrested after scuffles broke out between strikers and riders trying to continue delivering food.

Deliveroo has offered drivers who do not strike a £10 ‘boost’ payment for completing five or more deliveries on Valentine’s Day. But organisers said this will not be enough to break the strike.

The walkout is being organised by a secretive group of couriers known only as Delivery Job UK, via social media including WhatsApp. The leaders appear to be Brazilian nationals living in London. A Supreme Court ruling last year means that delivery app riders are not allowed to join a trade union or bargain collectively but the strike action is being supported by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB). In a video released by the Delivery Job UK account last week, a balaclava-clad driver rallied fellow ‘asphalt warriors’ to join the next strike. ‘We were warriors during the pandemic, weren’t we? Today, we’re being treated like dogs,’ he said.

Drivers are demanding the minimum fee for a job be increased to £5, plus an additional £2 for every mile travelled after the first. They say that at present a Deliveroo driver can make just £2.90 for a two-mile journey, meaning they are forced to drive dangerously to make ends meet.

Last week a Deliveroo driver said that his pay at the end of an 11-hour shift was £105, under the minimum wage, which is £10.42 an hour for anyone aged 23 or over. There is also anger at inconsistent rates of pay.

Last night a spokesman for Deliveroo said: ‘Riders always earn at least the national minimum wage, plus vehicle costs, for the time they are working with us, though the vast majority earn far more than this.

‘Riders are also automatically insured for free, and receive income protection if they are unwell.’

Just Eat said: ‘We provide a highly competitive base rate to selfemployed couriers.’ Uber Eats and Stuart were contacted for comment.