Foodsters Vote Results: History Made, and a Sign of Things to Come

It’s been 13 months since the Justice for Foodora Couriers organizing drive went public, and together we have achieved so much in this short period of time. The campaign went through awareness raising and recruiting; certification application; surviving and countering an anti-union campaign by Foodora, a representation vote, and a battle before the OLRB with international support and collaboration with other unions.

In an April 30 bulletin https://www.cupw.ca/en/cupw-reacts-foodora-cut-and-run we looked back on the campaign up to that point.

The hardship fund continues to grow, and the couriers are still organized and working together to take collective control of their future. Foodora Canada has folded but there are still options for Foodsters United to work together as a union – options they're currently exploring.

What's New

The biggest news of all is that the OLRB accepted our request to count the votes from workers whose eligibility to vote was uncontested by the parties. Those ballots counted 88.8% in favour of joining CUPW, leaving not enough uncounted ballots to change the result. The voice of the couriers is clear, and consistent with what the campaign and all our allies have been saying all along: Gig workers demand rights and they know unionization is the way to get them.

The organizing drive had an impact on Delivery Hero's international brands, especially Foodora. Customers and workers won't support a model that isn't rooted in respectful and safe working conditions. It's one more indication of hope for gig workers globally.

What it Means

Before Justice for Foodora Couriers and its gains, gig economy employers thought they could ignore workers' rights and misclassify workers to take advantage of loopholes in our labour laws. We've showed them, step by step, that they were mistaken. In the long run, the gig economy can only work if employers show respect and accept their responsibilities as employers.

Gig work around the world must, and will, be organized. There will be more legal challenges, since our current labour law framework does not properly embrace informal or semi-formal employment. But when the workers have the will to organize, we know they will fix the system and force legislation to catch up.

It's about all of us

Remember that it's not just app-based services who are undercutting worker rights with automation, increased flexibility, and increasing isolation and atomization of workers. Employers, including Canada Post, are attracted to shortcuts and anything that cheapens their labour costs by setting workers to compete against each other. Poor working conditions and wages in any logistics workplace threaten to lower the standards for all of us. We have to push back, and show that working conditions must be just. CUPW is proud to be a leading force in this global effort.

In solidarity,