High Court dismiss Deliveroo riders' bargaining rights challenge

by XPRESS, 06 December 2018

The High Court has confirmed a previous ruling that Deliveroo riders are self-employed and cannot have unionised representation after dismissing a judicial review.

The court, along with the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), had previously ruled that the riders were not Deliveroo employees and therefore were not entitled to employment rights like sick pay and trade union representation.

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), who brought forward the review, has said it will continue to make the case that gig economy workers are entitled to employee and collective bargaining rights.

The union’s general secretary Dr Jason Moyer-Lee said: “Today’s judgement is a terrible one, not just in terms of what it means for low paid Deliveroo riders, but also in terms of understanding the European Convention on Human Rights.

“Deliveroo riders should be entitled to basic worker rights as well as to the ability to be represented by trade unions to negotiate pay and terms and conditions. The IWGB will appeal this decision and continue to fight for these rights until we are victorious”.

Deliveroo argues that riders are partners, as opposed to employees, something it says provides flexibility to the workforce.

Dan Warne, UK managing director of Deliveroo said: “We are pleased that today’s judgment upholds the earlier decisions of the High Court and the CAC that Deliveroo riders are self-employed, providing them the flexibility they want. In addition to emphatically confirming this under UK national law, the court also carefully examined the question under European law and concluded riders are self-employed.

“This a victory for riders who have consistently told us the flexibility to choose when and where they work, which comes with self-employment, is their number one reason for riding with Deliveroo. We will continue to seek to offer riders more security and make the case that government should end the trade off in Britain between flexibility and security.”

Article Credit: The Caterer