TWU CRITICISES GOVERNMENT FAILURE TO ACT AS FOODORA APPOINTS ADMINISTRATOR

The move means a landmark unfair dismissal case taken by former Foodora delivery rider Josh Klooger has been halted, leaving him and thousands of riders without the redress they deserve.

“If you are a worker and you steal millions of dollars from a food delivery company you will be charged, convicted and jailed. The Federal Government is allowing wage theft to occur by a refusing to regulate and hold these companies to account. There is clearly a need to change the rules when there is one rule for hard-working people in Australia and another rule for wealthy corporations and tech billionaires,” said TWU’s Tony Sheldon.

The TWU is calling for the Federal Government to reveal what approaches it has made to Foodora about how the company will address the wage theft of riders and the legal cases against it. The Union is also calling for the commercial arrangement between Deliveroo and Foodora regarding transfer of riders to be made public.

“Delivery riders are getting ripped off, left at short notice without work and now not even able to pursue legal proceedings they have begun. Foodora has taken the Federal Government for a ride. They promised jobs through the buzz word of ‘disruption’ which Malcolm Turnbull touted as ‘exciting’. But instead they imported eighteenth century working conditions via an app,” said Sheldon.

“We are demanding for the Federal Government to force Foodora to set up a fund to compensate riders for stolen wages. This is a company with revenues of over $500 million. It cannot be allowed to exit Australia and leave our community ripped off,” he added.

The food delivery company gave riders just one week of “normal” shifts before August 20th when the company will wind down.

The TWU has previously criticised Foodora over leaked internal emails which showed the company was aware it was engaging in sham-contracting.

Hundreds of riders in Sydney and Melbourne have protested in recent months demanding rights.

The rider survey also found:

• Almost 50% of riders had either been injured on the job or knew someone who had

• Over 70% of riders said they should get entitlements such as sick leave.

• 1 in 4 riders (26%) work full time hours (40+ hours per week)

• 3 in 4 (76%) riders work 20 or more hours per week.

• Over 26% work more than 40 hours a week

• The average age is just under 26 years