Deliveroo workers during an earlier strike in London, photo James Ivens

Deliveroo workers during an earlier strike in London, photo James Ivens   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Domenico Hill, Bristol South Socialist Party

Bristol Deliveroo workers took strike action on the evening of Friday 18 January.

About 150 gathered in the city centre with their bikes and mopeds and began the strike by switching off their apps.

I spoke to one of them who told me he had worked for Deliveroo for three years and that Deliveroo currently pays £4 a drop, and only about 10p extra a mile.

As Deliveroo has expanded the area it covers, the distances have increased but the basic pay hasn’t, so their pay has effectively been cut.

Staff are also angry that the time spent waiting outside restaurants isn’t paid, even though they are expected to get there early to receive food while it’s still hot, increasing the time further.

Deliveroo also frequently changes the rate per distance, but doesn’t inform the drivers. They want more transparency from the company.

Their main demands are for £5 a drop, paid waiting times of £10 an hour, and £1 extra per mile. The strikers gave out leaflets in English on one side and Portuguese on the other, and a Brazilian driver spoke to the rally.

Labour’s Marvin Rees, Bristol’s mayor, also spoke in support of the strikers. He said he would contact Deliveroo to urge them to become a ‘living wage employer’, like the council. He forgot to mention the thousands made redundant by his administration.

Deliveroo workers are planning further strikes to push for their demands.