Home meal delivery workers called to strike this weekend

Home meal delivery drivers are being called to strike across France on Saturday and Sunday to denounce a drop in their remuneration, linked to a change in the algorithm on Uber Eats, franceinfo learned from the unions on Friday December 1st. They are protesting more specifically against new pricing implemented by the delivery platform Uber Eats.

This new system was first tested in Avignon, Rouen and Lille before being extended to all of France at the beginning of November. The Union-Indépendants union, which is supporting this strike with CGT and Sud Commerces & Services, noted among around fifty delivery workers that their salaries have decreased by 10 to 30% since the implementation of the algorithm.

A vague remuneration calculation

The union also denounces vagueness around this remuneration. Fabian Tosolini, national delegate of Union-Indépendants notes that currently “delivery people are unable to understand how the price of a trip is calculated.” “Two delivery men sitting in front of the same restaurant can have a trip with the same distance and the same time which can be billed on one side 2.85 euros, on the other side 4 euros”, adds the unionist. The unions are demanding a minimum price per race.

For its part, the Uber Eats delivery platform defends itself against franceinfo. It ensures that the time spent on delivery is better taken into account, and in particular “waiting time at the restaurant and at the customer’s house”. “The estimate of the time needed to complete the race takes into account the distance and other criteria such as traffic conditions”, explains the platform. Uber Eats also claims that the algorithm change has no major impact on the average level of fares for trips. She even claims to have noticed a “slight average increase in income per race of 1.4%” in the three cities where the algorithm was tested.