Following last week’s announcement of 1700 redundancies at Just Eat, the IWGB Union requested an urgent meeting to “discuss your sudden decision to end their employment assignments via Randstad”
The job cuts affect riders in the UK who are on the “Scoober” model, which Just Eat introduced in 2020, lauding it as being “greener, fairer, safer”, presumably by comparison with their self-employed model. Just Eat’s other official statements at the time included the following:
- “we firmly believe that providing more couriers with employment contracts, hourly wages and social security is the right thing to do”
- “we are committed to going above the standards of our competitors and to growing our employed courier model”
However it seems that this commitment was short lived, and it seems likely that the commercial aspects didn’t add up given the significant u-turn.
In response to the IWGB letter, Just Eat stated:
“We are hugely grateful to our talented colleagues and couriers who have been part of our worker model in the UK. Our top priority has always been to support those impacted and as part of which we have worked with our agency partners to offer an enhanced package of 6 weeks notice with pay.
“Our partner agencies are in continuous direct communication with these couriers to discuss what this decision means for them and what their options are. Dedicated channels have been set up to provide additional support in person, online and via telephone. Couriers are always welcome to ask any questions, reach our for support and raise any concerns directly with their agency or with staff at Just Eat.”
The IWGB are unimpressed with this response and tweeted “Update: we finally have a PR non-response. 5pm on a Friday screams priority. @JustEatUK are refusing to meet couriers collectively. Individual isolation only. Who does this drivel work on?”
