First meal deliverers Deliveroo claim employment contract

The FNV demands an employment contract with Deliveroo on behalf of six meal deliverers. They now work independently for the platform. They are part of a group of nearly three hundred meal deliverers who have reported to the FNV since 16 February. On that day, the court ruled that meal deliverers are not self-employed and can claim an employment contract.

Marije Ottervanger, FNV campaign leader platform economy: 'It is our job as a trade union to stand up for the rights of workers. We are happy to do that, but in fact it is politicians that have to intervene in the uneven growth and the flexibilization of the labor market that has gone wrong. Too many workers are in precarious contracts and, as with Deliveroo, in forced bogus self-employment. But politics has been on her hands for years. She looks at it and thinks about it, but doesn't do anything about it. ' 

Ten years

Outgoing Minister Wouter Koolmees (Social Affairs and Employment) recently announced that it would take ten years before the flexibilisation and bogus self-employment in the labor market was reversed.

Increasing resistance

Recent research by I&O Research , commissioned by the FNV, shows that three-quarters of the Dutch would opt for the services of another platform, or seriously consider this, if that platform does provide a fair and secure income for the platform worker . Last week, a number of large investors also announced that they were no longer interested in the IPO of Deliveroo due to the poor working conditions of the meal delivery company. As of today, Deliveroo shares are also available to individual investors and campaigns are underway in several countries where Deliveroo is active as a platform.

Lawsuits

The meal deliverers were employed by Deliveroo until 2018, but the company stopped doing so. Anyone who still wanted to work for Deliveroo had to become a self-employed person. The meal deliverers did the same work for less money, with no certainty of sufficient work and without a social safety net. The FNV then filed a case against Deliveroo, stating that the meal deliverers are not self-employed. They can't negotiate their rate and Deliveroo will decide how to do their job. The judge upheld the union in 2019 and on appeal in February 2021.

Collective labor agreement professional goods transport

In June, the verdict is expected on appeal in another case brought by the union against Deliveroo. This concerns the application of the Collective Labor Agreement for Professional Goods Transport. In that case, too, the judge ruled in favor of the FNV in 2019, which led to a claim by twelve meal deliverers.