Deliveroo riders and activist shareholders are preparing to challenge the delivery company over low pay, poor working conditions, and job security.
The Standard reports that the Deliveroo board will face questions over the dispute during its annual general meeting (AGM), to be held in London today.
ShareAction and the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) will allege that Deliveroo has failed to sufficiently engage with riders, who have participated in strikes since the beginning of the dispute in 2022.
Thousands of riders staged what is thought to be the largest ever courier strike in February this year.
Riders also raised frustrations at last year’s AGM and protested against founder and CEO Will Shu’s pay package.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Deliveroo riders cannot be recognised as employees because their contracts did not constitute an “employment relationship.”
Riders are defined as ‘self-employed’ and employers and therefore not legally obligated to pay them the statutory national living wage of £11.44 per hour.
The IWGB had fought the case in court for years in an attempt to win formal collective rights for riders.
In May 2022, Deliveroo signed a deal with GMB that covered the company’s 90,000+ riders.
The Voluntary Partnership Agreement gave the union the rights to collective bargaining on pay and consultation rights on benefits and other issues, including riders’ health, safety, and wellbeing.
It also guaranteed a pay floor, to be discussed annually with GMB, as part of the agreement.
More recently, In March 2024, Deliveroo signed a courier charter with the GMB union and some of its restaurant partners, pledging ‘respect between restaurants and riders.’
The Respect Charter includes principles on “treating everyone with dignity, communicating openly, [permitting] access to facilities and working together to achieve operational excellence.”
