Sheffield JustEat couriers set to strike protest against “shocking” pay cut

• Food delivery couriers working for Stuart to rally outside Sheffield Town Hall at 12 noon on 28 November in advance of an upcoming strike over 25% pay cuts.
• In a u-turn on promises to postpone the cut following protest by couriers from the IWGB, Stuart, which delivers for JustEat, is now slashing pay on most deliveries from £4.50 to £3.40 from 6 December 2021.
• Striking workers, backed by Sheffield Labour MP Olivia Blake, demand a minimum of £6 per drop plus mileage and paid waiting times after 10 minutes.

Tuesday 23 November: On Sunday 28 November at 12 noon, Sheffield food delivery couriers from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) are protesting outside of Sheffield Town Hall to demand that Stuart delivery cancels a planned pay cut of nearly 25%. Having previously been promised a postponement to the cuts in October 2021, couriers are set to strike from 6 December after the corporation that delivers for JustEat decided to push ahead with the cuts next month.

Stuart is slashing pay on most deliveries from £4.50 to £3.40 from 6 December 2021 as part of a new pay structure that will force couriers who already have to pay their own vehicle costs to work even harder and longer to make the same money.

The upcoming protest and strike, backed by Sheffield Labour MP Olivia Blake, follows a protest organised by IWGB in October 2021 when the pay cuts were first proposed. At Sunday’s rally, couriers will stage a motorcade leaving from Queen Street at 11am, arriving at Sheffield Town Hall at 12 noon where speeches will be given by Olivia Blake MP, members of the council, and workers.

Despite undertaking high-risk key work through the pandemic, Stuart’s couriers still live on poverty pay, are denied basic worker rights such as sick pay, and are forced to cover their own vehicle and insurance costs. With rising costs of living and fuel spikes, pay cuts will push these key workers further into poverty.

Olivia Blake, MP for Sheffield Hallam, says: “Stuart couriers have helped keep Sheffield going through the pandemic. For them to be rewarded with a pay cut like this is not acceptable. Every worker deserves a living wage, job security, and proper employment rights. I hope that both Stuart and JustEat do the right thing and give their delivery workers a pay rise, not a pay cut."

Bryn Atkinson-Woodcock, Stuart courier in Sheffield, says: “With the rising cost of living, and minimum wage and national living wage rising too, we should be getting a pay rise, not a pay cut. The pay at Stuart is bad as it is. Stuart advertises pay between £15 and £20 an hour online but this is totally unrealistic. Once you take out the rising price of fuel, insurance, vehicle maintenance, and tax, we’re making far below minimum wage. I work 6 to 7 days a week, between 8 and 12 hours and it’s obliterated my savings. I’m on my third car since I started working with Stuart because I’m doing 50 to 100 miles a day and the wear and tear costs take a considerable amount of my earnings. All we’re asking for is fair pay so we can pay our costs, earn a decent living, and have the time to see our families.”

Parirs Dixon, Chair of the Sheffield Couriers & Logistics Branch (IWGB), says: “Everything has gone up in the UK, even the minimum living wage has gone up; gas and electricity has gone up; petrol and diesel have gone up. For Stuart and JustEat to drop what they’re paying us is not right at all. It’s poverty pay already. With this new pay structure we won’t be able to pay off our bills. It’s heartbreaking. They’re being sly about it: they say, “trust us” – but we cannot trust a process that offers no hope for drivers. A few years ago they were begging for drivers but now we are just being used.”

Interviews are available on request.

For more information, contact:
James Vail, Press & Communications Officer
press@iwgb.co.uk