Deliveroo gears up for Supreme Court challenge over workers’ rights
A gig economy union is readying to take Deliveroo to the Supreme Court, following its partnership deal with another union.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said it is set to challenge Deliveroo in the Supreme Court, alleging a denial of collective bargaining rights.
In May, the union received criticism from workers after announcing it was forging a “first of its kind” union recognition deal with GMB union, which has not traditionally been associated with the gig economy.
Now, the IWGB has said it wants to pursue legal action so that Deliveroo couriers would be classified as workers.
Deliveroo has emerged victorious in previous UK court cases before on this issue, with workers deemed as self employed.
The IWGB has said Deliveroo’s partnership with the GMB stands in contrast with its principles that self-employed status for workers prevents riders from entitlement to collective bargaining rights.
It said the partnership does not address various issues with the tech firm’s employment practices in proposed negotiations, such as a lack of holiday pay and pensions.
The union also said it was “outrageous” for Deliveroo to be spending “hundreds of thousands of pounds” battling it in court over collective bargaining rights after having “just granted collective bargaining rights to another unrepresentative union.”
“Deliveroo should be investing this money in courier pay and conditions, rather than trying to silence its workers who only want a seat at the table,” Alex Marshall, IWGB president added.
However, the food delivery firm slammed the case by IWGB and said it “focuses solely on very narrow issues related to the right to collective bargaining in the UK.”
Deliveroo workers were able to “be their own boss” while having security, with a “voluntary recognition agreement with the GMB Union [that] gives riders guaranteed earnings, representation and benefits.”
The GMB said it would now negotiate earnings on behalf of 90,000 Deliveroo riders,
“GMB’s agreement with Deliveroo is a traditional trade union recognition deal covering pay bargaining, the right to dispute resolution, representation over health and safety, benefits and grievances,” Martin Smith, GMB organiser, said.
“GMB has a long track record of organising in the platform sector and will continue to lead the way through this groundbreaking deal,” he added.
The IWGB was looking to maximise its membership among gig economy work and usong the tribunal process to amp up the pressure on Deliveroo, Yvonne Gallagher, partner at Harbottle & Lewis, said.
A Supreme Court judgement last year over Uber deemed that drivers were workers for the purposes of employment law rights, including rights such as holiday pay and minimum wage for hours worked. However, this does not include statutory sick pay, Gallagher pointed out.
Deliveroo dea’s with GMB agrees a limited level of sick pay, benefits and union negotiation rights, but without conceding “worker” or “employment status for riders, she explained.
“It’s worth noting that the Uber judgement was forceful in stating that statutory rights designed to protect those working with an imbalance of power would be interpreted so as to give rather than limit those rights,” Gallagher said.
“Deliveroo is likely to be concerned at the prospect of fresh claims which it will have hoped to avoid by what was presented as a ‘ground-breaking’ deal with GMB. Deliveroo is also unlikely to be keen to negotiate with more than one Trade Union.”