Delivery riders’ strike in Milan and Bologna. Trade unions: ‘Protect health and wages’

15 July will be a day of strike for delivery riders: from 6 pm, delivery riders from Glovo, Deliveroo and Just Eat will stop working in Milan to demand greater protections, starting with a ban on working during the hottest hours of the day. This demand is in line with the order in force until September, which the riders are calling for to be respected without this resulting in a reduction in pay.

The decision was taken, together with the Nidil Cgil Milano and Filt Cgil Milano trade unions, on 10 July at a meeting held in Piazza Duca d’Aosta, in front of Milan Central Station. “We are calling on Glovo, Deliveroo and the Prefect of Milan,” explained Andrea Bacchin of Nidil Cgil, “to provide tangible solutions for workers: measures that protect their health without forcing them to lose wages. The strike will also serve as a prelude to the meeting to be held the following day at the Ministry of Labour in Rome, where the trade unions will call for the application of social safety nets for these specific categories of workers as well.”

Delivery riders working in the city of Bologna will also join the strike on 15 July. Glovo and Deliveroo riders will take part in the strike, switching off their apps “in protest against exploitative policies”. Here too,the protest centres on the failure to increase pay and working conditions in extreme heat. The meeting point is in Piazza Nettuno at 4.30 pm, with a march through the city along Via Indipendenza and Piazza VII Agosto, due to arrive in Piazza XX Settembre. This local mobilisation precedes the national round-table meeting at the Ministry of Labour on 16 July, explains Nidil-Cgil: “Our demands are a direct challenge to the business model of the platforms”, continues the union, which is calling for the immediate opening of “a genuine round-table discussion” with Glovo and Deliveroo, which, according to workers’ representatives, “systematically refuse to engage in dialogue with the union and even ignore court rulings on pay rises”. “The climate crisis is no longer an exceptional event. Those who cycle in the city cannot be expected to pay the price of climate change out of their own pockets,” continues Nidil, “if the app is suspended for safety reasons, companies must allocate specific resources to ensure continuity of income: the suspension of deliveries must not result in a financial loss for workers.”