Apoorva Mehta et al,

Instacart has now raised a total of 1.87 billion dollars, valuing your company at $7,870,000,000. Within that valuation are hundreds of partnerships with every grocery store imaginable plus deals with brands, couponers, and selling customer and contractor data.

In that same timeframe, and after CFO Ravi Gupta bragged to the press about having hundreds of millions of dollars of cash on hand, contractors have seen their take home pay decrease by yet another 40% right before the holidays. We wish we could say this was the only time it has happened. A small sacrifice for the greater good of making sure a company survives. But this has happened before. And before that. And before that.

You do this every year. But only to those who have shed actual blood, sweat, and yes sometimes tears to deliver fresh groceries to your customers doors. But what has CEO Apoorva Mehta given up? What cuts were made at 50 Beale Street?

Everyday we discover new tricks Instacart engineers deploy to coerce hardworking contractors into giving you free labor. Over the past five years we have seen you skim tips on several occasions, obfuscate the entire tipping process, attempt to remove tips, insert murky fees designed to look like a tip, outright reduce pay by 30-40% yearly, hide customer addresses, deactivate contractors for speaking up, sweep injuries under the rug, fail to take accusations of sexual harassment seriously, pay contractors different rates for the same work, skirt contractual responsibilities, lie to customers about upcharges, and steal contractor bonuses.

In the past, small bands of enraged shoppers have attempted to organize against all of these manipulations, and they have proven relatively successful with no laws protecting them. There are NO UNIONS for independent contractors. So if the laws wont catch up, we will have to take matters into our own hands.

We are now SEVENTY THOUSAND contractors strong! And no one can argue that this most recent pay reduction doesn't affect them, their families, and put them in danger of a new era of indentured servitude.

We are the BACKBONE of this business. We are the backbone of the entire “app economy”. If you will not listen to our emails, our calls, our focus groups, then you will listen to our actions which WILL make sure this company never sees a DIME of profitability.

We don't want much. We just want fair, consistent pay for a hard days work.

As of the time of this posting, November 16th, 2018, all contractors protesting today stand in solidarity in calling for the following changes:

-Minimum base pay (not including customer tips) of $10 per customer order.

-An amendment to our contract that this cannot be lowered.

-Reinstatement of the following pay equation: $10 base + .40 per item + ($5 club order + $5 for every order over $200 increasing by $5 for each extra $100, if applicable)

-Complete overhaul and transparency of the customer tipping page and rating system with approval of elected shoppers by US.

-Full and complete customer addresses for every order BEFORE BATCH ACCEPTANCE.

-Full and complete item list BEFORE BATCH ACCEPTANCE.

-An order decline button on the dashboard.

-The creation of Instacart XL for large orders that shoppers with the proper insurance and resources can deliver.

-The installation of a clear deactivation and appeals process for contractors.

-The creation and installation of a real Shoppers United Council that will provide input on all future decisions affecting contractors elected by US, the shoppers.

We shoppers, united under a sacred goal, a living wage with the tools and resources needed to complete our tasks, have chosen TODAY to take a stand. We will not quit. We will not continue to give you free labor either! We will keep protesting until the above changes have been implemented. SEVENTY THOUSAND shoppers will now willingly disrupt the disruptors through our legal right to refuse work and manipulate the entire Instacart platform without breaking the terms of our mutual contract with the company.

CEO Apoorva Mehta, you have every bit of data on us imaginable. You know who we are. We advise you to have your team reach out to discuss how we can resolve these issues in a way that is mutually beneficial to all parties: contractors, the business, and most importantly our customers.

Sincerely,

The Instacart Shoppers United Council