September 11, 2023
THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
Vol. CXLIV, No. 2
The true cost of food delivery apps The labour issues involved in delivering meals to your door Benedetta Martelli Varsity Contributor
Over the past 15 years, digital labour platforms have allowed the share of Canadians who do gig work to nearly double: between 2005 and 2020, their share of the Canadian workforce jumped from 5.5 to 10 per cent. Food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats have been a major part of this surge. Their business model is founded on connecting customers with workers who pick up food from restaurants and then deliver it to the customer’s location. Currently, workers on these digital labour platforms are classified as independent contractors under Ontario’s Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act 2022. This is the same classification used for people who do freelance work, such as graphic designers, electricians, or caterers. But several factors distinguish delivery couriers from freelancers. The latter tend to be self-employed, have multiple business relations, and design contracts on their terms. On the other hand, the gig workforce is also distinct from traditional employees of a company. By definition, gig workers occupy temporary and part-time positions without guaranteed
hours or pay. The temporary and casual nature of delivery couriers’ work means they are disconnected from both one another and the company they work for. These working conditions allow employers to avoid complying with labour regulations that apply to traditional employee relations. What's more, workers have less opportunity to do collective organizing because they lack connection to each other. The challenges of gig work Gig Workers United (GWU) is a union of delivery app workers in the GTA, whose goal is to obtain rights like fair, livable wages and safe working conditions. In an email to The Varsity, Brice Sopher, vice president of GWU CUPW, described the challenges that gig workers face. Gig workers, unlike other workers, don’t have access to benefits such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, or a retirement pension. They can often be, essentially, fired from the platform they work on without any notice and can be accused of violating their contract without being told how or why — practices that labour laws for traditional employees prevent. Although gig workers gain flexibility and independence in comparison to traditional workers, they do not have job
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security. This flexibility might seem beneficial, as it allows the workers to choose their working days. But it also may lead them to work until exhaustion when orders are coming in, as they have no guarantee of a satisfactory demand the following day. Ginevra Sweetko, a third-year criminology student working in a restaurant, confirmed: “I directly interact with drivers… their income and working hours are largely based on the restaurant’s demand. During a slow day, only three or four drivers will stop [by] to collect orders. When fewer orders are placed, multiple drivers issue a request for pick up.” Sweetko notes that this suggests couriers struggle to find enough orders to complete. Sopher also noted that for workers who do courier work by car, workplace challenges include “gas, wear and tear on cars, insurance, long waits with no pay… risk of repetitive use injuries as well as dangerous working conditions in inclement weather.” Sopher added that bike couriers also face hardships, such as “bike theft, being injured in collisions, [the] cost of renting bikes or commuting, [and] expensive data plans.” Continued on page 6
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