Paris (France) (AFP) – Uber Eats and Deliveroo on Wednesday said they would impose afternoon breaks for food delivery cyclists in parts of France under severe heat warnings, in a measure not so far applicable despite high temperatures. The measure was presented as a way to protect the health of the workers, but has been decried for depriving them of income.
France is experiencing its third episode of high temperatures since May, with men on bicycles this week cycling to bring meals to customers in heat as high as 40C in some parts of the country. But nowhere on the mainland was under red alert — the highest heat warning — on Wednesday nor predicted to fall under that category on Thursday. Both apps said they would halt access to users between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm if there was such an alert.
Asked if it would provide compensation to drivers, Uber Eats seemed to imply it would not. The time slots for the suspension of services were chosen “to strike a balance between the overriding priority of delivery drivers’ safety and limiting the impact on revenue,” it said. Deliveroo did not reply to a request for comment.
Ludovic Rioux, a labour activist from the CGT union, said the decision made “these vulnerable workers even more vulnerable” in the absence of any replacement income. Temperatures reached 40.7C in the southwestern city of Bordeaux on Tuesday.
Uber Eats driver Aboubacar, 26, was waiting outside a fast-food restaurant in the sizzling afternoon heat. “We’re suffering but we have no choice,” he said, not giving his surname for fear of reprisals. “If you don’t make deliveries, you won’t have anything, you won’t be paid.”
Some 130,000 meal delivery personnel are registered as working for apps in France, of whom 98 percent are born abroad and 64 percent are undocumented, according to La Maison des Livreurs, a non-governmental organisation providing them with support. Uber Eats said it sent its workers reminders to stay hydrated when temperatures soared and facilitated their access to drinking water via partner restaurants. Deliveroo said it had provided its delivery drivers with a map of water taps and had sought to limit the distance of deliveries.
© 2024 AFP
