Date
21 January 2021

Tag

Active

Country
Germany Germany
Geographical scope
Regional
Type
  • Type

    Awareness raising, campaigns, information provision

    Voluntary
  • Type

    Negotiation of working conditions

    Voluntary
View Initiative

Description

Liefern am Limit was founded in early 2018 and is the first works council that Deliveroo workers had created in Cologne, Germany. In August 2019, Deliveroo ceased its operation in Germany, but Liefern am Limit remains and continues to protect food delivery workers in Germany.

Scope of the initiative Interest in the initiative was widespread. Both Deliveroo workers, and workers from other platforms such as Foodora, used it to make the public aware of their concerns and working conditions. At the same time, the contact with the German Food, Beverages and Catering Union (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten, NGG) was deepened.

Since November 2018, Liefern am Limit is an official partner of NGG to address working conditions in the food delivery industry. The organisation also supports other platform workers in the food delivery industry in Germany and organises regular networking and information events.

With the support of Liefern am Limit, works councils of Foodora were established in Cologne, Hamburg (together with Kiel and Bremen), Frankfurt (together with Offenbach), Nuremberg and Stuttgart. The aim is to establish further committees and thus make the concerns of the employees heard by platforms and society. Liefern am Limit also functions as mouthpiece of food delivery workers to the public, to NGOs, into the existing trade union structures of the NGG, and into politics. Concerns of the workforce were for example raised to the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Scale of the initiative Given the nature of the initiative, its scale is difficult to quantify through hard indicators. As of 2021, the Liefern am Limit Facebook page had 3,400 followers. Other social media accounts such as Instagram and Telegram are also used to share information about the initiative.

Strengths and weaknesses Liefern am Limit established cooperation with traditional trade unions which expanded the infrastructure of the initiative and provided access to training for both workers and workers’ representatives. Furthermore, the Liefern am Limit campaign for legal reforms has been largely successful due to the specialised knowledge that the founders of the initiative had around existing legislative gaps. To this extent, labour court disputes have been used to promote improvements in the working conditions of platform workers.

The initiative also contributes to improving the knowledge of traditional trade unions about working conditions of platform workers.

A key weakness of the initiative relates to the high level of turnover amongst riders which limits the growth potential of the initiative. Furthermore, the emerging practice of contracting riders through temporary work agencies for short periods of time inhibits the interest of riders in the initiative.


Updates (1)

The following recent changes to this initiative have been recorded.

29 August 2023

In August 2023, Liferando couriers organised a warning strike in Berlin, in front of the Liferando headquarters, demanding a collective agreement and the change in the current bonus system. The NGG union also demands a €15 hourly wage and a 13th month salary. In addition, the union also demands surcharges for deliveries on Sundays and public holidays.

Additional metadata

Keywords
employment status, collective bargaining
Actors
Individual worker, Employee organisation
Sector
Transportation and storage
Platforms
Lieferando, JustEat

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2021), Liefern am Limit (Initiative), Record number 3071, Platform Economy Database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/platformeconomydb/liefern-am-limit-103061.