Labour has accused the takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo of a return to Victorian Britain with its new pay deal, as workers staged a third day of protests outside the firm’s central London headquarters.

The shadow business secretary, Jon Trickett, backed the Deliveroo riders in their protest and said a Labour government would take action to end exploitative employment practices.

The technology firm, which arranges deliveries from restaurants to consumers and has workers across the UK, told couriers in London earlier this week that it planned to pilot a new pay structure that would see guaranteed hourly rates replaced by payment per delivery. Couriers, who are self-employed and provide their own transport, said the move to £3.75 per delivery, instead of an hourly rate of £7 plus £1 per delivery would lead to uncertainty and lower wages.

Protests began on Wednesday night and have taken place every evening since, with workers gathering outside Deliveroo’s offices and refusing to take orders from customers.

Couriers told the Guardian they did not believe management promises that they could earn more under the new system. “Sometimes you might be hanging round for an hour for a delivery,” said one at Thursday’s protest. “We need something a bit more consistent, something more reliable. We have kids, we have rent. We can’t deal with uncertainty.”

Trickett said Deliveroo workers were right to demand proper pay and conditions. “The company is offering a return to a Victorian system which has no place in modern Britain,” he said.

Employers should not use flexible working as an excuse to cut costs and increase employees’ insecurity, he added. “After all, rent, fuel bills and food costs don’t vary week to week, so nor should incomes purely to suit the employer.”

Deliveroo sent emails sent to workers on Friday offering those who sign up to the trial guaranteed payments for the first month. The firm said that until 14 September it would pay at least £7.50 an hour plus tips over lunchtime, at least £3.75 an hour between 2.30pm and 6.30pm and at least £9.37 an hour during the peak evening period.

The emails stress that the change is a trial, but the company confirmed that those taking part would be required to sign up to new contract terms.



Deliveroo’s managing director in UK and Ireland, Dan Warne, said: “We want to be clear that this is a trial happening in certain parts of London. We are engaging with riders who work within those trial areas to get their feedback and listen to their concerns. We’re committed to having an open conversation about our trial, our payment model and delivery experience for riders.”

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, which is working with the protesters, said the new rates did not account for the time spent waiting for orders.



“When drivers are waiting for a delivery, this is work, because drivers are providing a service to Deliveroo. They are ‘on call’ just as any other tradesperson is, who receives payment for that time,” it said.

“The new piece rate creates an absurd set of incentives for work. It will disproportionately benefit the faster drivers and will inevitably incur risk.”

Deliveroo, which raised $275m (£212m) from investors this month, said it would roll out the pay terms from next week and claimed that couriers had responded positively in early trials.