After Deliveroo workers in Belgium and Netherlands went on strike, UNI General Secretary, Philip Jennings, warned business leaders at Davos about the dangers of bogus self-employment and misclassification of workers. Referring to a Dutch Deliveroo worker on strike, Jennings delivered the reality of the new world of work to Davos in a session on the gig economy. Jennings read a letter from a disenfranchised Deliveroo worker, relating the experience of platform workers to a visibly moved audience of top executives.
The worker, who is a member of UNI’s Dutch affiliate FNV, ‘Storm’ said, “Deliveroo workers are organising for real jobs with security, safe working conditions and decent pay. Workers do not want to be forced into a position of false freelancing.”
“All over the world we see teenagers and young adults taking on a fight against Deliveroo that is all about the future. Deliveroo offers enormous bonuses to workers that would become freelancers, but we are not fighting for money, we are fighting for the most fundamental thing of all: our status as workers.”
“We believe that a trade union can deliver better lives and working conditions for platform workers.”
Strike action will continue every weekend in the Netherlands and Belgium until the company listens and acts on the workers’ demands.
