Foodsters United Statement on Foodora Closing its Canadian Operations Take Action! Help Support Foodsters United

April 27, 2020

Foodsters United, CUPW Courier Local 104 have just learned alongside all workers that Foodora are closing their Canadian operations.

We are saddened and greatly disappointed in Foodora and parent company Delivery Hero for their poorly thought out decision. This demonstrates a complete disregard for the wellbeing of us workers in an already extreme and uncertain time. Foodora has left restaurant partners, as well as couriers, without significant notice. Restaurants and couriers will have only 2 weeks to find alternate means of survival in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

One of workers’ reasons for starting this entire campaign was fear that the company would suddenly abandon its duties to workers. Let us be clear, the decision by Delivery Hero was made without any input from their workers or care for their well-being. The instability, precariousness, and lack of transparency in the gig-economy is now on full display for the world to see. Protections like EI are a given for most Canadians, but Foodora will leave foodsters out of these support systems by refusing to acknowledge the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ruling that we are Dependent Contractors.

Delivery Hero like all gig economy employers has treated this as a numbers game where market control takes priority over the lives of real hard working couriers. We must not forget that this is a multinational corporation working to control the market on their terms. This is the reality of the gig economy on full display.

Riders have long noticed deficiencies in the company’s operations and have repeatedly tried to bring this to the company’s attention but have been ignored every time. That was a major catalyst for the union effort. The company would rather leave thousands of vulnerable workers without any income than to fix glaring issues with management and tech/infrastructure.

This is apparent in Foodora’s complete inability to explain why the company is closing operations in North America. Foodora and Delivery Hero must be held accountable to the workers - couriers have made millions for this company and deserve to be treated with dignity and fairness.

We call on Foodora and Delivery Hero to immediately reverse this cruel decision and instead invest in workers as they should. Delivery Hero is a giant multinational corporation that can more than afford to continue operations at this time.

As Foodsters United we have always been the workers fighting to support each other and commit to that now more than ever. Together we will help and support each other through this. Almost 1 year ago on May 1, 2019 we marched to the foodora office demanding respect, safety and fair pay. We have rallied to help each other survive this pandemic by setting up a hardship fund, distributing PPE, making sure workers collect CERB, and checking in to make sure they’re safe. We come from a place of love and comradery. In the coming weeks we will continue to be here to support workers and to help find solutions to the unsafe situations foodora puts us in. We will proceed with our General Meeting tomorrow to bring workers together and identify what support we need from our Union at this time.

We care about each other and have grown into a community of cyclists and drivers, men women and non-binary, new and old Canadians. We are foodsters, we are united, and we will get through this together.

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