No love lost for bosses as delivery riders stage Valentine’s Day strikes

Strikers in Hackney, east London, came up with an inventive method to stop strike-breaking

Delivery drivers on strike block Queensway road in London

By Sophie Squire
Thursday 15 February 2024

SOCIALIST WORKER

Delivery riders and drivers across London struck on Wednesday evening—alongside workers in the US and Ireland.

Fed up with poor pay, punishing conditions and police harassment, they decided to strike for five hours on one of the busiest nights for food deliveries—Valentine’s Day.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just East workers struck across the capital. Outside a dark kitchen—a takeaway-only restaurant—in Tower Hamlets, east London, workers organised a strong picket line. They were able to turn away several workers who were trying to make deliveries.

Delivery worker Omar told Socialist Worker, “Not everyone knows about the strike, so we try to explain to them. We must explain why we are striking. I say we are fighting for all people. We are fighting for all delivery drivers.”

Outside a McDonald’s in nearby Hackney, workers had devised a way to stop other riders crossing the picket line. Striker Gavin told Socialist Worker, “We’re clamping up their bikes for as long as the strike is on.

“We’ve told them not to deliver, and they haven’t listened. We know each other well around here. I know all the riders. We stick up for each other.

“If someone’s bike gets stolen, we all run after the culprit. But we have to keep this strike strong. That means trying to stop people from accepting orders.”

John, an IWGB union member, was outside the dark kitchen in Tower Hamlets. “You often get what the apps call stack orders,” he explained. “Basically you have a few orders lined up in a row.”

“The real minimum per order is supposed to be £2.90, but sometimes second orders in the stack will be as little as 80p. You can’t live on that.

“I get tired a lot. I’ve had a lot of back issues doing this job. I’ve had to ask my landlord to let me pay my rent later because I don’t have enough money.”

Many of the strikers are migrant workers. Thais, who was picketing outside a McDonald’s in Dalston in Hackney, told Socialist Worker, “I’ve been a rider for almost three years. Every day it’s worse and worse, and we are paid less and less.

“Today, before the strike I worked from 9am, and made just £45. That’s what you have to do. You have to work all day every day if you want to make enough money. I can’t study, I can’t go to the gym, I can’t do normal things.”

Thais is originally from Brazil, and added that many Brazilian migrant workers are at the centre of the strikes. “They put out a really strong message online, and people are joining,” she said. “It’s good, and we have to keep fighting.”

A hundreds-strong convoy of drivers and riders went to the home of Deliveroo co-founder and CEO Will Shu. Workers also rode around parliament and blocked Westminster Bridge.

Meanwhile, in Dublin striking workers gathered at the Spire on O’Connell Street to demand better pay.

Across the US, thousands of workers for the Uber and Lyft taxi apps and other food delivery apps struck. In San Francisco’s Bay Area, Uber driver Marianna Porras said, “I am protesting for fair wages. We’re tired of the exploitation.”

The strikes—organised from the ground up—should be an inspiration to all workers fighting to higher pay. Workers can drive home the message to bosses with more action.