Deliveroo food delivery workers are unionising to win employment rights, photo by Môsieur J (Creative Commons)

Deliveroo food delivery workers are unionising to win employment rights, photo by Môsieur J (Creative Commons)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Rob Williams, NSSN national chair

The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union has launched a recruitment drive among Deliveroo couriers as part of its campaign to secure real employment rights for the food delivery drivers.

The London strikes this summer of IWGB members in companies like Deliveroo and Uber Eats have helped lift the lid on the ‘gig economy’ where low-paid workers are super-exploited by being seen as individual contractors rather than employees and therefore having few employment rights.

Three weeks ago, two taxi drivers in the GMB union won an employment tribunal against Uber, which should open the door to them being regarded as workers and therefore entitled to the national living wage, holiday pay, etc. Predictably, Uber is appealing the judgement!

National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) supporters attended an IWGB organising meeting last week and have been helping the union in its campaign to sign up drivers. The union is targeting a ‘zone’ in north London to use as a test case to get sufficient numbers of union members to press for a union recognition agreement as a step towards securing collective bargaining, which could benefit the estimated 8,000 couriers throughout the UK.