The American private chauffeur company Uber arrived in France in 2011 followed in 2016 by its affiliate Uber Eats. Uber Eats offers a food delivery service that works with an app. It has become quite popular but is also criticized for its lack of ethics.
Bicycle deliverers for American franchise Uber Eats have been crisscrossing the streets of Reims since 2017. Uber eats is a branch of Uber that offers a delivery service in partnership with restaurants in a given city. Once consumers have downloaded the Uber Eats app on their smartphone, they can place orders at restaurants working with Uber eats. The delivery person closest to the restaurant will receive a notification to collect the meals and ensure delivery as soon as possible. Uber Eats arrived in Paris, France in 2016, with a massive advertising campaign, and was rapidly successful. It gradually developed in big cities around France. Reims was the fifteenth city in France to welcome this new delivery service.
The impact of the application on restaurants as well as the deliverers’ working conditions are often debated in newspapers and the company has faced many strikes and demands since it arrived in France.
First of all, the deliverers are not employees of the company but considered self-employed. This status is a double-edged sword because it brings some advantages but also a lot of disadvantages. Deliverers can choose to work when they want, making it a full-time job or additional income. For Laura, 22, “The deliveries are a part-time job, to make some extra money, and the money goes straight into my pocket because I don’t pay for a bike or scooter, I use my roommates’ bike.” Cedric meanwhile, also a student, works when he’s “in a good mood”. I do deliveries when I have free time. I use my scooter so I go faster than most other deliverers who use bikes, and can make enough money in just a few hours’ work.”
Deliverers can choose their means of transport, most work on bicycles but they can also use scooters or cars. Karim, 26, enjoys trying to beat his racing record on his bike, “and also I'm not from the region so I get to discover the surroundings with this job “, which for him “ is a deliverance". He used to work in an enclosed space before, sitting all day for a salary equivalent to the one he currently receives. "Unlike many of my colleagues who complain about the working conditions, this job suits me best, I like being in contact with people, I like challenging myself physically and staying on the move”
The job’s unstable salary, that varies according to the amount of hours worked, really can be a disadvantage though. Some deliverers have also complained the rules aren’t always clear and that the algorithm makes mistakes, for instance contacting deliverers who are not always closest to the restaurants. The status of self-employed entrepreneur is another negative point, and although insurance is mandatory, it is possible to start working uninsured, which has led to some dramas.
The company has faced numerous strikes by its “collaborators”. The reasons have remained more or less the same over the years: a non-fixed salary per hour, too little insurance and a much-discussed operating algorithm. Strikers are often members of the CLAP community (Collective of independent delivery men in Paris). They spoke out in February this year, in front of Uber headquarters in Marseille : around forty “”collaborators” gathered there, criticising deteriorated working conditions and demanding Uber align with other delivery companies’ conditions (for instance Deliveroo).
Many strikes had already taken place last summer in Paris, between the third and 9th of August 2019. Hundreds of delivery people gathered on the Place de la République to denounce a new price list circulated by the application a few days earlier. According to CLAP, this change would have led to a 30 to 50% drop in payment. An agreement that was initiated in 2018 between Uber and Axa Insurance was finally put on the market at the end of summer 2019. Insurance is now mandatory to be work for Uber Eats and provided by Axa. Since February 2020, each delivery is paid at least € 4.50.
Laura, like many people delivering for Uber Eats is young, and this salary is not her worst : “ I know it's not a lot for the physical effort required for this job, but I also work part time as an extra at McDonald’s and the per hour income is better with Uber Eats. Also I like the fact that it makes me exercise and get fresh air, I couldn’t work in a closed office from 9 to 5. »
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