Gig Workers

Demographics of App Delivery Workers in NYC and All Workers in NYC (%). Source : New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (2022)

Pay rates for workers in the app-based food delivery industry are on a downward trend, according the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. This could be because companies used higher pay rates to entice more workers during the pandemic, but have since reduced these rates as labor supply has increased. In fact, the figure below hows that between the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, pay per delivery dropped in NYC by 23%, from $6.38 to $4.29. While the minimum hourly wage in New York City is $15, companies like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Relay pay workers using a variety of methods, with some paying on a per-trip basis and others offering a regular hourly rate. On average, workers earn around $14.18 per hour, split between pay and tips, with e-bike workers earning slightly more due to the higher number of deliveries they perform per hour.

App Delivery Worker Pay in NYC ($). Source : New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (2022).

Additionnally, digital delivery platforms are providing employment opportunities for a diverse range of workers, including rural migrants in China, Venezuelan refugees in Colombia or Peru, and undocumented migrants and refugees in Europe (Dablanc, 2023). Meituan, for example, employs several million freelance delivery workers every day. However, delivery workers remain a diverse group with varying views on their profession. Typically, they are young men who work on a freelance basis, riding a two-wheeler, and the vast majority of them are foreign nationals in countries like France. In Paris, 41% of delivery drivers for platforms like Deliveroo and UberEats declare themselves self-employed, including students and working people but with a majority of full-time workers (Dablanc et al., 2022). Some workers are cooperators or temporary employees, while others rent the account of a registered self-employed worker to work in the informal economy.

Social concerns

Traditional logistics service providers, for example, conduct same-day trials through partnering with, acquiring or investing in delivery start-ups. For example, DPD Group acquired Stuart in 2017 after previously partnering with them and UPS invested in Deliv in February 2016 (Accenture, 2019). The sustainability of this business model is under question as start-ups TakeEatEasy and TokTokTok closed down in 2016, although others are experiencing mainstream success (Accenture, 2019). In the United States, grocery retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Kroger have partnered with Instacart to deliver their groceries in less than one hour, Nike and Adidas are working with Deliv and Apple is offering same-day delivery through Postmates.

Some of these initiatives, notably Deliveroo or Foodora, have experienced labour movement and protests (e.g. in Milan, in Paris, in London). This is part of a mounting wave of criticism in some European countries against the “uberisation of jobs”, or an increase in the share of jobs carried out by independent contractors using digital platforms. Concerns about the working conditions and status of these delivery drivers are also numerous outside Europe. China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Colombia... and many other countries are experiencing delivery workers' demonstrations, debates in the media and court decisions concerning instant delivery (Dablanc, 2023). So-called "gig jobs" are considered precarious and devoid of benefits such as right to unionise, health insurance or retirement benefits. In the delivery business, they are also accused of favouring dangerous behaviours on the road, as the revenue made is strictly correlated to the number of delivery tasks accomplished.

Gig payment coupled with declining remuneration has led to drivers taking risks. The most recent survey on instant meal deliveries in Paris showed that 26% of respondents were already involved in accidents on the job (Dablanc et al., 2022). Self-employed delivery drivers are the most likely to report having had an accident in the course of their delivery activities : 46.2% compared to 26.4% for the entire sample. They are followed by those who have multiple sources of income (31.5%). Employees in delivery positions are the least affected by accidents, with only 13.2% reporting having had an accident in the course of their delivery activities (despite estimating the risk of accidents as high). It should be noted that they are also the most likely to choose the option "do not know or do not pronounce," which could suggest reluctance on their part to discuss this sensitive topic. When the occurrence of accidents is broken down according to the vehicles used by delivery drivers in the course of their delivery activities, those who use shared bicycles and motorized two-wheelers are the drivers who have mostly reported having had an accident (33.0% and 29.2%, respectively, compared to 26.4% for the entire sample). Additionally, platform delivery drivers frequently use poor-quality bicycles and have to consult their smartphone very frequently, contributing to more risks. In New York City, there is also a rise in risky mobility, with delivery drivers on bicycles and mopeds driving the wrong way or on sidewalks, causing an increase in accidents (Dablanc, 2023). Indeed, in NYC in 2021, 28.7% of e-bike or moped app delivery workers and 10% of car app delivery workers have experienced an injury, making delivery workers experience the highest injury rates of any industry in New York City.

For its next-day and same-day delivery services, Amazon goes even further than gig work. Instead of insisting its drivers are independent contractors with no rights as employees (i.e. such as Uber does), Amazon contracts third-party companies, which in turn employ drivers. In doing so, Amazon still determines every aspect of the delivery operation (e.g. what drivers wear, what vans they use, what routes they follow, how many parcels they must deliver), but divorces itself from the people delivering its online orders. This detachment occurs in particular when drivers become involved in accidents, often caused by long hours and high stress of the job. By some estimates, nearly half of Amazon's parcels in the United States are delivered in this way (O’Donovan & Bensinger, 2019).

Promoting a better work protection for independent contractors is one way forward. A California bill proposal pushed for independent contractors to be able to form their own negotiating organisations. The bill would have required technology companies to meet and negotiate with organized groups of independent contractors. It passed the California Assembly Labour and Employment Committee in 2015 but was then abandoned because of anti-trust concerns. The French law 2016-1088 on Labour, Social Dialogue and Career Protection has introduced the following changes to the French Labour Code applying to independent contractors using digital platforms. If they decide on the “characteristics” of the service and its price, digital platforms have a social responsibility towards the workers using them. Specifically, digital platforms must organise or pay for the insurance for work related accidents, workers using these platforms have a right to professional training paid by the digital platform and workers can unionise, but their bargaining actions cannot cause motive for dismissal.

In addition to allowing independent contractors to form their own bargaining organisations, unions also promote the reclassification of independent workers to employees. In the United States, several lawsuits in the instant delivery sector have resulted in such reclassifications. As referenced in the specialised press, important players such as Instacart, Shyp and Scoobeez, have reclassified some or all of their contractors into employees. One of these lawsuits came from four former drivers working for Amazon Prime Now in Los Angeles and specifically for its subcontractor Scoobeez, a courier company based in Glendale in Orange County. “Amazon goes much further than Uber in controlling drivers' schedules and work activities. Amazon Prime Now drivers work regular shifts for an hourly rate and do not have the option to decline deliveries. They also wear Amazon Prime Now uniforms and are not allowed to work for other firms” (quote from a plaintiff, from L.A. Weekly, October 29, 2015). It was reported that Amazon pressured its subcontractor Scoobeez in settling the case, because of the bad publicity and potential large sums involved if the lawsuit would be continued. It has continued operating in this manner, as outlined in the news article by O’Donovan and Bensinger (2019).

Courts and highest courts in several countries have recently converged in issuing decisions that consider delivery workers are actual employees, and not true independent workers. In France, the Cour de Cassation (highest court) on March 4, 2020 considered that Uber (and UberEats) workers are actually employees because of economic dependency to Uber. The same court on December 2018 had considered that TakeEatEasy delivery workers were employees because of GPS tracking and sanctions. In California, legislation AB5 followed a 2018 California Supreme Court ruling considering that contractors that are part of the core business of their client should be considered employees. Uber and Postmates took legal action, and put forward proposition 22, proposed to a referendum at the last US elections. Proposition 22 was adopted, reversing AB5. In Spain, on September 23, 2020, the highest court (Tribunal Supremo) estimated that Glovo delivery workers were actual employees. Although legislation has been passed in France and Europe to protect delivery workers, fees given to them have fallen on average, leading to difficulties for workers and a reliance on undocumented workers who accept low wages. While the job of a platform delivery driver could be a starting point for undocumented workersy, the current administrative practice in France prohibits their regularization due to the sector's self-employment status. Initiatives such as the 'House of delivery workers' in Paris provide delivery personnel with contacts for specialized lawyers who can assist in the regularization process. Delivery workers’ views on the job have deteriorated in 2022 in Paris, particularly with regard to their relationship with the platforms. Delivery workers are rarely members of advocacy groups or unions, but the rate of those who are has increased in 2022 in France. A recent professional election for self-employed workers in France had very low participation, but it represents a step forward for social dialogue and legitimizing trade unions and advocacy groups in this sector. Negotiations have started between the new representatives and platforms on wages and fees. The algorithm at the heart of delivery platforms' model remains a black box, and its application to control how delivery drivers organize their activities is intrusive. Cooperatives of activities and employment could offer a compromise between self-employment and wage employment, but the business model remains challenging.

The dominant trend between significant reclassifications or the continued use of independent contractors is however somewhat difficult to perceive. In parallel to using subcontracting courier companies, Amazon has also been testing its own digital platform system for delivery gigs, called Amazon Flex. It has been operating in 7 countries so far (Canada, the UK, Spain, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia). Flex drivers, whom Amazon calls “delivery associates”, are independent contractors with a pay advertised as $18 to $25 an hour in the United States and £12 to £15 in the United Kingdom. A Madrid labor court has ruled in 2023 that Amazon violated labor laws by requiring over 2 000 delivery drivers to use a company-controlled app for scheduling work and payments, and to use their own vehicles and mobile phones (Reuters, 2023). The court rejected Amazon's claim that the workers were self-employed, stating that the company controlled all aspects of the work, including conditions, pay, and scheduling. The decision is the latest in a series of legal measures in Spain aimed at preventing companies from misclassifying workers as self-employed. The government passed the "Riders Law" in 2021, which classified food delivery riders as employees. In a similar effort to reclassify the work of delivery drivers, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has proposed a minimum pay rate for more than 60,000 app-based restaurant delivery workers in the city. Currently, these workers are classified as independent contractors and not as employees, and so they do not receive a minimum wage, expense reimbursement, or other benefits such as health insurance.

Environmental concerns

 A London case-study by Allen et al. (2021) explored the transport and CO2 impacts of instant meal deliveries. A delivery worker undertakes approximately 9.6 deliveries per day, taking 25 min each from pick-up to delivery with an average trip length from restaurant to customer of 2.2 km. Delivery workers travel 41.3 km in total per day. The case-study also indicates the relative transport inefficiency of these meal deliveries compared to other forms of urban goods mobility, with a meal delivered by car being responsible for approximately 1,300 times the distance travelled by a truck operation per tonne delivered. It also shows that meals deliveries by cars and non-electric mopeds emit 5 and 11 times more per meal delivered than bicycles, respectively (Allen et al., 2021).

While in 2016, 87% of deliveries were carried out by bike in Paris, this share decreased gradually over the years : to 73% in 2018 (Dablanc et al., 2019), 62% in 2020 (Dablanc et al., 2020), 46% in 2021 (Dablanc et al., 2021) and around 41% in 2022 (Dablanc et al., 2022). The share of electrically assisted bikes increased but remains small : 10% in 2020 and around 15% in 2021 and 2022 (Dablanc et al., 2021; Dablanc et al., 2022). Mopeds, mostly still gasoline-based in Paris gained traction despite French legislation : any head of a company or self-employed individual providing a freight transport services with a motorised vehicle (e.g. mopeds, motorbikes, vans) must be registered to the national freight transport register. Registration is done after a three-day training, the guarantee of a fixed sum on a bank account for each vehicle used and a clean police record. This rather strict legislation refrains independent couriers from using motor vehicles, although many violations of the rule have been observed. The utilization of mopeds for quick meal deliveries in Paris has witnessed a significant rise, jumping from 9% in 2016 to 37% in 2022. Conversely, in New York City, where the use of cars and mopeds for deliveries is permissible, cars account for nearly 44% of delivery workers, as opposed to a mere 0.4% in Paris. A breakdown of the transportation mode employed by delivery workers in New York City is provided below.

App Delivery Workers, Hours, and Deliveries, by Mode of Transportation, NYC, Fourth Quarter 2021. Source : New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (2022).

This situation is still very different from urban freight in general, made in 57% by vans, in 39% by lorries, in 3% by motorbikes and in 1% by bikes and cargo-cycles in Paris in 2012 (Dablanc et al., 2018). Yet these developments undermine the environmental potential of instant deliveries. A study in Belgium showed that there is in fact potential for instant delivery services to be more sustainable than traditional ways of delivery. For the investigated delivery platform (bringr from bpost), such positive effects however did not materialise due to the predominant use of passenger cars that are used in a dedicated way, instead of during a trip for other purposes (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). Amazon Flex in the United States is also adding specific car travel to the metropolitan areas where it is in use and very rarely by bicycle or by public transit, except for a few rare cities such as New York.

Delivery drivers in Europe are predominantly using motorized vehicles such as mopeds and private cars instead of bikes, leading to noise and pollution (Dablanc, 2023). While electric mopeds are common in other non-European cities, the majority of delivery mopeds in Europe are still thermal. However, "quick commerce" services exclusively use electric mopeds. Municipal bylaws in Nantes have banned the use of mopeds in the city center, but many delivery drivers are unaware of these bans. Article 114 of the Climate and Resilience Act of August 2021 requires goods delivery platforms to gradually increase the proportion of bicycles or low-emission vehicles used in deliveries and to inform users of the type of vehicle used. While this contradicts the principle of driver independence, it signals the instant delivery sector's responsibility for cleaner urban mobility.

Platforms often tout their use of cycle couriers or the availability of e-vehicles for delivery work. While electric vehicles may seem like a viable option, the cost burden of purchasing one falls on the couriers, who often work part-time and may not have the resources to invest in such an expensive vehicle (Lord et al., 2022). According to Siragusa et al. (2022), the economic benefits of using an electric vehicle only become apparent after an eight-year period, which is not in line with the casual and part-time nature of many delivery workers (Dupont et al., 2018). Even when platforms like Deliveroo offer e-scooter rentals, the fees of £79-94 per week can take a courier over 12 hours to earn (Bernal, 2020). Additionally, job allocation often favors motorized vehicles over cycles (Farrell, 2019), which further disadvantages cycle couriers and may lead them to abandon this work altogether in search of more lucrative options.