Online food delivery apps and ride-hailing groups were bracing themselves for a wave of rider and driver strikes in the US, Canada and the UK on Wednesday, in a dispute over pay at a time when the companies are under pressure from investors to push for higher profits.
Thousands of couriers for Uber, Lyft and DoorDash in cities across North America are set to refuse to take orders on Valentine’s Day, traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year for delivery apps. Some drivers said they also planned to picket outside airports in Florida, New Jersey and Texas, and protest outside Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco.
Similarly, thousands of UK couriers for food-delivery apps Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway, Uber Eats and Stuart are planning to strike on the same day, in a move designed to cause maximum disruption to the businesses.
The gig worker actions are not being centrally co-ordinated, but have been spread on social media and by word of mouth, with the support of a number of labour rights groups.
The unifying complaint across countries is low pay during a cost of living crisis, at a time when groups such as Uber and Deliveroo are facing pressure from investors to demonstrate consistent profits. Meanwhile, labour rights campaigners are pushing for greater transparency on fare splits between drivers and apps.
Delivery Job UK, a pop-up collective organising the British strike, said low pay and daily hazards create “an environment of uncertainty and poverty”.
“People are tired of this. It’s getting worse as the years go by,” said Jonathan Cruz from Miami, an Uber driver for around seven years. “The gap is increasing between what the customer pays and what the driver gets . . . It’s hard to survive right now.”
In the US, Gridwise Analytics found Uber drivers’ average monthly gross earnings in 2023 dropped 17 per cent and DoorDash rider earnings nudged down 0.1 per cent, though Lyft driver earnings increased 2.5 per cent compared with a year earlier.
Based on aggregation of its user data, Rodeo, an app used by UK delivery riders to track and analyse earnings, estimated that the average pay per order on Just Eat had dropped 9 per cent to £5.59 and declined 2 per cent on Uber Eats to £4.21 in 2023, compared with 2022.
Those pay declines for drivers come as the companies seek to show investors they can consistently turn a profit, after years of sustaining heavy losses in a battle for market share.
Uber reported its first annual operating profit last week with analysts anticipating the company might announce a share buyback during an investor day on Wednesday.
Pre-tax losses at Just Eat and Deliveroo narrowed to €317mn and £57.6mn respectively in the first six months of 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.
The gig economy has been subject to growing regulation across both sides of the Atlantic. New York last year imposed a new minimum wage law for gig workers, while European parliament and Council negotiators last week reached a provisional deal on a directive aimed at improving their working conditions.
However, the UK Supreme Court in November ruled Deliveroo riders could not be recognised as being in an “employment relationship” or be represented by trade unions for collective bargaining.
This has not prevented riders organising in less formal ways. Earlier this month, thousands of riders took part in an impromptu strike across British cities including London, Brighton and Liverpool, also prompted by Delivery Job UK.
Rodeo estimated there was a 50 per cent drop in the number of orders on Uber Eats in London during the five-hour strike, costing Uber and Deliveroo about £1mn each.
“Drivers across the US are fighting for fair wages, safety, and more this Valentine’s Day,” said Justice for App Workers, a US-based campaign group.
All the companies targeted by strikes argue they have a good relationship with the vast majority of riders.
Lyft said it was “constantly working to improve the driver experience”, and announced this month that drivers would “always make at least 70 per cent of the weekly rider fares after external fees”. Uber said: “More drivers and couriers are choosing to earn on Uber than ever before.” DoorDash declined to comment.
Deliveroo said it aimed to “provide riders with the flexible work riders tell us they value, attractive earning opportunities and protections”. Delivery company Stuart said it remained “committed to providing competitive earnings opportunities for courier partners”.
Just Eat said it took the rider concerns “extremely seriously” adding that they earned “on average, significantly over both the London and national living wage for the time they are on an order”. The UK national living wage, for those aged 23 and over, is currently £10.42 per hour.
Alfie Pearce-Higgins, co-founder of Rodeo, said the lack of transparency around pay was a “serious failing” of the gig economy and one of the “biggest weaknesses” of the model.
He added: “There are a lot of drivers who want to be flexible and independent . . . but that independence only really works if there is a competitive, transparent market and we think that is lacking.”
