Winter Swims for Couriers' Rights
Donation protected
The Winter Swims for Couriers' Rights fundraiser has made £2635 for the couriers' strike fund!!!!
THANK YOU to everyone who's donated, shared, publicised, swam and organised. You have been SO generous and wonderful!
Donations are now CLOSED. Please keep an eye on the IWGB Couriers' pages for notice of strike actions coming up:
https://www.facebook.com/IWGBCLB
Hope everyone is coping ok in lock down - thanks for keeping me sane this January. Swimmers - stay awesome!
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What's going on?
I'm Hannah from Sheffield, and this January I'm going to wild swim every day to raise money for the South Yorkshire Courier's Network Strike Fund.
Covid 19 has made demonstrations, pickets and face-to-face meetings difficult or impossible. It has also hit key workers in precarious employment very hard.
By getting in cold water every day, I hope to spread the word about the courier's struggle against poverty wages, verbal and physical abuse, exploitative working conditions and unfair dismissal.
What's the issue?
The workers on bicycles, mopeds and cars that drop off your takeaway generally work for tech giants like Deliveroo or Uber Eats. As well as dropping off your pizza, couriers also deliver groceries and essential supplies to the most vulnerable people.
Couriers have not been furloughed, given sick-pay or holiday pay, and they have worked through the pandemic since day one.
Despite this, couriers incomes have plummeted; Deliveroo couriers are paid less than £4 per delivery in Sheffield. By misclassifying employees as 'independent contractors', companies can pay below the minimum wage while expecting couriers to cover the costs of petrol, vehicle maintenance, and punitive parking fees.
In addition, couriers have taken action against restaurant owners who subject couriers to abusive behaviour.
Couriers have been refused access to toilets by giant fast food chains (despite health & safety law), have faced racist and contemptuous bullying by restaurants, and even verbal and physical abuse from customers once they get deliveries to the door.
If workers complain or try to organise, Uber and Deliveroo dismiss them without warning or due process.
Why donate to a strike fund?
Most couriers are on low, insecure pay. The financial burden of taking time off work can prevent someone from being able to go on strike. Strike Funds can stop this from happening.
The IWGB Couriers Network is a grassroots, member-led union, currently punching well above their weight by taking on rogue courier firms, multi-million pound companies, and tech giants like Deliveroo. Your donation will allow the most financially insecure couriers to take part in strike actions and exercise their right to peaceful protest.
Please support us!
I for one will need lots of encouragement to plunge on this cold, dark, locked-down month!
Your cash will give couriers the financial support they need to take action and challenge these injustices, but it's more than that. Your support and confidence shows key workers that they are not alone, and that we can work together in the toughest times.
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU to everyone who's donated, shared, publicised, swam and organised. You have been SO generous and wonderful!
Donations are now CLOSED. Please keep an eye on the IWGB Couriers' pages for notice of strike actions coming up:
https://www.facebook.com/IWGBCLB
Hope everyone is coping ok in lock down - thanks for keeping me sane this January. Swimmers - stay awesome!
--------------------------------------------------
What's going on?
I'm Hannah from Sheffield, and this January I'm going to wild swim every day to raise money for the South Yorkshire Courier's Network Strike Fund.
Covid 19 has made demonstrations, pickets and face-to-face meetings difficult or impossible. It has also hit key workers in precarious employment very hard.
By getting in cold water every day, I hope to spread the word about the courier's struggle against poverty wages, verbal and physical abuse, exploitative working conditions and unfair dismissal.
What's the issue?
The workers on bicycles, mopeds and cars that drop off your takeaway generally work for tech giants like Deliveroo or Uber Eats. As well as dropping off your pizza, couriers also deliver groceries and essential supplies to the most vulnerable people.
Couriers have not been furloughed, given sick-pay or holiday pay, and they have worked through the pandemic since day one.
Despite this, couriers incomes have plummeted; Deliveroo couriers are paid less than £4 per delivery in Sheffield. By misclassifying employees as 'independent contractors', companies can pay below the minimum wage while expecting couriers to cover the costs of petrol, vehicle maintenance, and punitive parking fees.
In addition, couriers have taken action against restaurant owners who subject couriers to abusive behaviour.
Couriers have been refused access to toilets by giant fast food chains (despite health & safety law), have faced racist and contemptuous bullying by restaurants, and even verbal and physical abuse from customers once they get deliveries to the door.
If workers complain or try to organise, Uber and Deliveroo dismiss them without warning or due process.
Why donate to a strike fund?
Most couriers are on low, insecure pay. The financial burden of taking time off work can prevent someone from being able to go on strike. Strike Funds can stop this from happening.
The IWGB Couriers Network is a grassroots, member-led union, currently punching well above their weight by taking on rogue courier firms, multi-million pound companies, and tech giants like Deliveroo. Your donation will allow the most financially insecure couriers to take part in strike actions and exercise their right to peaceful protest.
Please support us!
I for one will need lots of encouragement to plunge on this cold, dark, locked-down month!
Your cash will give couriers the financial support they need to take action and challenge these injustices, but it's more than that. Your support and confidence shows key workers that they are not alone, and that we can work together in the toughest times.
THANK YOU!
Organizer
Hannah Thompson
Organizer
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