GMB MEMBER ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION WITH UBER EATS MANAGEMENT
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Dear members,
We hope that you are all well and safe at present.
We wanted to share the issues that members had raised for discussion with Uber Eats at our meeting in late September.
GMB Member Issues
· Waiting times at supermarkets – also raised at July meeting;
· McDonalds treating members/couriers poorly - also raised at July meeting
· Couriers requesting the ability to rate merchants – especially when they experience negative circumstances.
· Low pay, especially for longer distances
· Restaurant waiting time – customer delays caused by restaurants rather than couriers. Members have asked for stronger support in these instances, to help ensure couriers are not unfairly penalised.
· Support – also raised at July meeting – clearer and more useful in-app messages. Many members feel that the current system of standard replies does not always provide enough support when difficulties arise, and they would welcome improvements in this area – a similar issue was also raised at July meeting.
Your Reps will also receive updates from Uber Eats on business performance, safety and casework including:
Business
· Usual performance statistics
· Instant cashout
· Open University funding – request for GMB share with members
· Equipment campaign
Safety
· Update on Alcohol Safety [action from July meeting]
· Sexual Misconduct Education with Survivors Trust Charity
· Vehicle Theft and Robbery – supporting couriers
· E-bike Fire Safety collaboration proposal
Casework update
· Casework timings – length of [GMB item]
· Supporting couriers to avoid insurance fraud
We will update members in early October following the meeting.
Yours in union,
GMB National Officer GMB National Reps
POSSIBLE GPS ISSUES ON OLDER MOBILE PHONES
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Dear members,
GMB Reps are receiving an increasing number of calls from members who are noticing issues across the all the operator platforms with inaccurate GPS issues.
In some cases these are leading to both warnings and incorrect deactivations from platforms.
The issue seems to be with devices giving inaccurate geo-location data to the operators.
We are advising in the first instance that members manually check that their devices are accurately sending correct data with no time lagging. You can do this by following a journey on Google maps or the Uber app and seeing if your device is following the route correctly.
If there seem to be issues we would advise contacting the relevant operator and speaking to your mobile phone provider for guidance.
Yours in union,
GMB National Reps & GMB National Officer
GMB CALLS FOR CALM AND CONSISTENT LEADERSHIP OVER ACCOUNT RENTING/SUBSTITUTION
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Dear members,
There have been numerous media reports on the issue of account renting/substitution this week.
GMB believes that the discussion of this issue requires calm and mature leadership, without resorting to inflammatory language or racial profiling.
We are aware that the Government is meeting industry operators shortly and we call on them all to show leadership on this issue.
GMB is also calling to be part of this conversation – we were the driving force behind the Modern Slavery Act, which seeks to protect the vulnerable, and we condemn any exploitation via account renting/substitution in the food delivery industry.
Our members have expressed their concerns about exploitation via account renting/substitution, the impact that has on everyone in the industry and the Government needs to hear their perspective on this issue.
We have also written to all the main food delivery operators to ask what plans they are putting in place to protect couriers in the event that violence occurs again in our communities.
Lastly, we are seeking to meet with the Government too to make sure that the voice of members is also heard in this important debate.
We will endeavour to keep members updated on progress.
Yours in union,
GMB National Reps & GMB National Officer
UBER EATS TO LIFT MINIMUM PAYMENTS BY UP TO 7%
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Dear members,
We hope that you are well.
As part of our new agreement, GMB and Uber Eats recently met to discuss the minimum payments for riders.
GMB presented to Uber Eats the views of members on current rates, and also our industry view that rider earnings should be based on more than just ‘delivering more’ and reflect the challenges they face with rising costs.
Following that meeting Uber Eats have confirmed to GMB that on 1st April they will raise their minimum payment rates as per below:
Bicycle couriers: £12.30 per estimated hour on trip
Motorbike couriers: £14.10
Car couriers: £15.90
As a reminder, these are minimum offers which apply to the estimated time from when a courier accepts the trip to when they drop off the order.
GMB welcomes this news as movement in a positive direction in payments from Uber Eats, and adds greater transparency to payments within the wider industry.
Yours in union,
GMB National Officer GMB National Uber Eats Reps
GMB MEMBER SURVEY - HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWS AND ANTI-RACISM
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Dear members,
Racism in any workplace is a serious health and safety issue.
In the Summer of 2024 workers were attacked by racist rioters because of their (perceived) ethnic background or faith, and the risk for global majority workers has not gone away this year.
We cannot allow this to happen again.
That’s why GMB is surveying its drivers, riders and couriers members on how the riots impacted them, so we can focus on building future solidarity, and identifying what responsibilities Platform Operators may have under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to provide safe workplaces.
The evidence from this survey will also be used in a Special Report to GMB Congress 2025 on Anti-Racism.
It is vital that you complete the survey so we can stand together against racism and improve safety in all workplaces.
GMB NATIONAL DELIVEROO, UBER AND UBER EATS REPRESENTATIVES
GMB NATIONAL OFFICER
FIRST QUARTERLY MEETING OF 2025 WITH UBER EATS
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Dear members,
We hope that you are well.
We wanted to update you ahead of our first quarterly meeting for 2025 with Uber Eats.
Our Reps have identified from members a number of issues that we are raising with the Company, and below you can see the topics that we will be discussing next week.
We are just beginning to work with Uber Eats so following the meeting we'll share an update with members on progress, as we want to keep members as up to date as best we can as go forward.
Business update
Statistics
Daily facial verification check update
Iftar dinners
Safety
Live Safety Agent pilot updates
Helmet campaign
Potential future collaboration
Casework
Historic deactivations
Casework hygiene
Valid but irrelevant insurance documents flagged as fraud (GMB item)
Collaboration: avoiding insurance scams
GMB Items
Review of pay rates
Enhancement of support system
False customer accusations
Safety concerns during ID verification
Yours in Union,
GMB National Officer GMB National Uber Eats Reps
GMB VALENTINE'S PROPOSAL
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Dear members,
As many of you will know, last year on Valentine’s Day many riders participated in boycotts across multiple operators to highlight concerns about earnings.
In light of this GMB has recently proposed to both Deliveroo and Uber Eats that they pay riders a bonus on Valentines’ Day to reflect the additional contribution they make to ensure that standards are met on days of particularly high importance and volume.
We hope to have a response to our proposal soon and will share with members once we receive a reply.
Yours in union,
GMB National Reps – Deliveroo and Uber Eats & GMB National Officer
