Advertisement

Former Foodora workers reach $3.46M settlement with app’s parent company

A Foodora courier is pictured as they pick up an order for delivery from a restaurant in Toronto on February 27, 2020. An overwhelming majority of Foodora couriers in Toronto and Mississauga voted in favour of unionizing months before the delivery app exited Canada. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says 88.8 per cent of the couriers in the area threw their support behind unionization. The union is sharing the number because the Ontario Labour Relations Board recently unsealed and counted ballots nine months after a certification vote asked couriers last August if they wanted to unionized with CUPW. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette.

TORONTO — Foodora Inc.’s parent company has reached a $3.46-million settlement with its former Canadian couriers after shutting down its delivery service in the country.

Under the settlement, Berlin-based Delivery Hero SE and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will end recent disputes stemming from couriers winning the right to unionize in February and Foodora filing for bankruptcy in April and exiting the market in May.

The union alleged in an unfair labour practices complaint filed in April that Foodora pulled out of Canada because couriers and drivers in Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., were granted the right to unionize and be seen as dependent contractors by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

They said it was suspicious that the company cited profitability challenges as its reason for leaving Canada, but that Delivery Hero had just announced its first-quarter revenue for 2020 nearly doubled over the year before and demand for food delivery was surging during the pandemic.

Story continues below advertisement

The union complained couriers were losing their jobs just as COVID-19 was spreading and many had no other employment or access to government funds.

READ MORE: Ontario labour board rules Foodora couriers are dependent contractors, eligible for union

Union president Jan Simpson says in a statement that the settlement shows what happens when workers continue to fight and that she is pleased that the financial stress of former Foodora workers has been lessened.

Foodora Canada managing director David Albert says in a statement that he is also glad to have reached a settlement because it will minimize the impact of exiting the market and ease some of the hardships created by the pandemic.

Sponsored content

AdChoices