On Thursday 24th March, drivers in both Morley and Birstall joined the ongoing strikes by gig economy food delivery drivers, which started last year by drivers in Sheffield taking action against major partners of JustEat/Stuart who cut their base rates of pay for drivers last year.
Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party
Socialist Party members from Leeds and elsewhere in West Yorkshire have been supporting drivers taking weekly strike action in Heckmondwike on a retail park including McDonald’s since Valentine’s Day on both JustEat and UberEats platforms.
Out of that action, attempts to make links with drivers in nearby towns have been made, leading to meetings in Birstall and Morley over the previous week that agreed action that took place for 3 hours on Thursday. As the strikes went on the confidence of drivers to stop and talk to other drivers who weren’t aware of the strike grew, with orders cancelled and piles of undelivered food building up inside McDonalds stores targeted.
The meetings to organise those strikes have also led to other contacts with drivers from Leeds that could lead to strikes spreading further. Whilst many of the drivers taking part in the strikes are ununionised, many are joining the IWGB which initiatied the strikes in Sheffield and has organised a strike fund for its members which urgently needs donations. You can find the details here – https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/sheffield-justeat-riders-are-going-on-strike-pay-rise-not-pay-cut