Striking JustEat couriers demonstrate outside Greggs HQ over pay cuts

• Striking JustEat couriers to demonstrate outside JustEat client Greggs’s Newcastle HQ on Thursday 24 March at 13:00 over pay cuts.
• Despite Greggs’ commitment “to work with partners to change the world for the better”, JustEat couriers, who are forced to pay fuel and vehicle costs out of their own wages, work 12 hour days on poverty pay.
• Couriers began what has become the longest gig-economy strike in UK history after JustEat subcontractor Stuart Delivery cut the base rate of pay by 24% in December 2021.

Wednesday 23 March: Striking JustEat couriers from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) will demonstrate outside of JustEat client Greggs’s Newcastle HQ building on Thursday 24 March at 13:00 over pay cuts. Couriers are employed by subcontractor Stuart Delivery - ultimately owned by the French government - which slashed the base rate of delivery pay in December 2021 from £4.50 to £3.40 amidst the cost of living crisis.

Couriers have previously targeted major JustEat clients McDonald’s and KFC as part of what has become the longest gig-economy strike in history. The strike has now been running for 92 days.

Stuart Delivery couriers are forced to work upwards of 12 hours a day for poverty pay, which runs contrary to Greggs’s commitment to socially responsible business practices throughout its supply chain, in which the firm claims all workers should work reasonable hours and that “wages should always be enough to meet basic needs”.

Stuart Delivery has one of the highest margins on deliveries in the gig economy and handed a £2 million pay rise to CEO Damien Bon in 2020. Stuart drivers are demanding a pay rise as couriers begin to join the strike across the country, with actions appearing in Chesterfield, Heckmondwike, Middlesbrough, Leicester, Belfast, Kent, Colchester among others.

Parirs Dixon, Stuart Courier and Chair of Sheffield Couriers’ Branch (IWGB), says: “Greggs pride themselves on being an ethical company, treating workers fairly in all areas of their supply chain. It is completely hypocritical for them to stand idly by whilst their exclusive delivery partner, JustEat, continues to allow Stuart to pay its drivers below living wage, fires drivers for issues outside of their control, and refuses to listen to the grievances of their workforce.”

Bryn Atkinson Woodcock, Stuart Courier, says: “As a client of JustEat and Stuart, it is important for Greggs to be aware of what is happening to the people that deliver their food. The cost of fuel is soaring, all of my bills have skyrocketed, and yet my wages are getting smaller and smaller. How can anyone looking at key workers struggling to support their families, turn a blind eye and say “not my problem”?

Alex Marshall, President (IWGB), says: “As one of JustEat’s biggest clients, Greggs is complicit in the exploitation of our key workers. Greggs claims to ensure that all workers in its supply chain receive fair pay and decent working conditions, but apparently this commitment ends at the last mile of delivery. Couriers are forced to pay fuel and vehicle costs out of their wages, and with the rising cost of living and recent fuel spikes, they are being pushed even further into poverty. If Greggs is serious about its pledge “to work with partners to change the world for the better”, it must intervene and urge JustEat and Stuart Delivery to reverse their savage pay cuts.”

Interviews available upon request.

For more information, please contact:
James Vail, Head of Communications
press@iwgb.co.uk