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Description

In September 2019, collective agreement  has been signed between Foodora (mediating bicycle food delivery) and Fellesforbundet (United Federation of Trade Unions). The agreement includes a wage increase, reimbursement for equipment, extra pay during wintertime and collectively agreed early retirement pensions for the workers (employee status).

Scope of the initiative

In detail, the collective agreement includes, amongst others the following points:

• Minimum hourly rates of NOK 123 per hour and NOK 138 for a rider captain. Furthermore, it includes a premium per delivery (Weekdays NOK 15, Saturdays NOK 20 and Sundays NOK 25).  Before the agreement was concluded, the food couriers earned NOK 120 per hour (the same rate since 2015) with the same additions per delivery.
• For deliveries over 4 km, the delivery rates above increase with NOK 10 for bike couriers.
• Reimbursement for equipment, working clothes, data and phone, wear, laundry and kilometres (NOK 2,5 per delivery).
• A winter supplement will be paid to cyclists for a period of 3 months. The local parties will decide for which time and period the winter supplement will be paid. The supplement will amount to NOK 5 per hour.
• A collectively agreed early retirement pension scheme, which is included in all agreements with unions affiliated with LO.
• Hourly wage for administrative/other work is paid at NOK 170 on weekdays, NOK 175 on Saturdays and NOK 185 on Sundays.
• A 100 % supplement of the standard rate hourly rate for work on otherwise work-free days, such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and after 3pm on New Year’s Eve.
• If the final delivery is delivered outside the set working hours  10 minutes are added to the final delivery.
• A seniority supplement is paid in the amount of NOK 1 per hour after 12 months of continuous employment, thereafter a further NOK 0.50 per hour per 12 months of continuous employment. The upper limit for the seniority supplement is NOK 5 per hour.
• An overtime supplement of 50% is paid for overtime work, calculated from the current wage. After 9 pm and before 7 am, and for days before Sundays and public holidays, and on Sundays and public holidays, the overtime supplement is 100% of the current wage.

The company, in partnership with the union representatives, agrees to draw up a plan for training cycle couriers, emphasising, among other things, road safety, use of the app/phone, the company’s organisation, customer service and equipment.

In addition, the agreement gives the food couriers the right to collective bargaining, and to information and consultation rights. Therefore, the couriers have the possibility to renegotiate their wage levels. This also implies that the shop stewards of Foodora (in Oslo) and the company Foodora meet once a month, on prescheduled meetings and discuss the situation of the company. There are also meetings between the shop stewards and the company in Trondheim, but no other cities in Norway. The shop stewards can raise questions or issues of concern. In addition, the company or the shop stewards can ask for additional meetings on specific issues.

The agreement was renegotiated in late 2020 with the negotiations having been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The terms of the previous agreement applied until the new agreement was in place. Since the agreement was first was concluded, Foodora had become a member of the employer organisation Virke (The Federation of Norwegian Entreprise). This was the first time the parties (Virke and Fellesforbundet) had to renegotiate the Foodora agreement. In the new agreement (2020-2022), the couriers obtained an improved seniority rate and a minimum wage guarantee. The new agreement includes the following:

• The provision on extra pay per delivery over 4 km is cancelled.
• The reimbursement for equipment, working clothes, data and phone, wear, laundry and kilometres is changes to:
  • for delivery of orders with a distance of up to 2.49 km, a supplement of NOK 2.20 per km is paid.
  • for delivery of orders with a distance higher than  2.5 km, a supplement of NOK 3 per km is paid.
• Minimum wage of NOK 140 on weekdays, NOK 150 on Saturdays, and NOK 160 on Sundays where total payment is less than these levels.
• A seniority supplement is paid of NOK 1 per hour after 12 months of continuous employment, thereafter a further NOK 1 per hour per 12 months of continuous employment. The upper limit for the seniority supplement is NOK 5 per hour.

Scale of the initiative

The agreement covers all couriers which are employees, that is workers who work 10 hours per week or more in Foodora in Norway. This amounts to about 40 percent of all couriers. The remaining 60 percent of couriers are contractors and most of them deliver in a car. In the big cities, the couriers can choose if they desire to be a contractor or an employee. However, in smaller cities being a contractor is the only available option.

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Additional metadata

Keywords

social protection, representation, industrial relations, social dialogue, income, collective bargaining

Actors

Platform, Business association, Employee organisation

Sector

Transportation and storage