The courier strike of the food distribution company Just Eat in Zurich has highlighted workers’ discontent with planned changes in employment conditions, while about 500 couriers risk losing their jobs.
In an interview for the Swiss newspaper BlackOne of the couriers, identified as Jan F., has shown the reasons why he was led to join the strike.
He works for three years in food distribution in the Glattal region and opposes the decision that directly employed workers be replaced by independent couriers.
We refuse to accept that direct jobs will disappear and that the consequences of this decision will be delivered only to us, he has declared about Brick.
On Sunday, about half of the couriers scheduled for work in Zurich and Glatal refused to perform orders assigned through the app. They gathered in front of a McDonald’s subsidiary in the Stauffaster area of Zurich, where they protested the new employment model. The strike started at 11: 00 p.m. and it was meant to continue until 10: 00 p.m.
The couriers demand that the company sit in talks with workers and the Syndicom union. According to Jan F., their demands have already been submitted and they continue to be ready for dialogue.
On the other hand, a union representative has stated about Bleck that by Sunday evening they had received no reaction from Juste Eat regarding workers’ demands.
The conflict relates to the company’s decision to change its business model from next year. Instead of couriers with regular work contracts, Justty Eat plans to hire more self-employed couriers who will be paid for any given orders.
Workers oppose this change, fearing that they will keep their own financial risks and have less social security. Just Eat, meanwhile, argues with changing customer demand and the need for more flexibility in distribution times.
According to the company, the new model will enable better adaptation to market demands, while couriers and unions demand that existing jobs be preserved and their conditions not deteriorating. /Telegraphy/