Food delivery workers from Just Eat, Deliveroo and UberEats will stage a six-hour walk out over pay and working conditions on March 23.
In Northern Ireland’s first gig economy workers’ strike, Belfast workers will stop working between 11am and 5pm on Wednesday, holding a protest at McDonalds on Boucher Road.
According to the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU), a typical 12-hour shift will see workers earn as little as £100 before fuel and maintenance costs are deducted from their wages. Just Eat has recently changed its payment structure that has effectively meant a 25 per cent pay cut in delivery drivers’ take home wage, bringing their rates down to similar levels with Deliveroo and UberEats.
“Belfast’s hard pressed food delivery workers are facing desperate circumstances because of the recent round of callous pay cuts just as we are dealing with historically high fuel and maintenance costs for our delivery vehicles,” said a Belfast representative for the ADCU.
“Workers can only make up for lost income and the effects of inflation by working cruelly longer hours or else they and their families must do without. We just want to earn a fair income and to live a dignified life like everyone else.”
A combination of pay cuts, higher fuel costs, and the ongoing cost of living crisis has also seen the costs to drivers shoot up. Fuel costs increased by 36 per cent and vehicle maintenance by 30 per cent, compared to 2021 figures. Delivery drivers are footing the bill for these costs while also seeing their base wage reduced.