News Labour Relations
Foodora couriers receive $3.5 million in settlement following bankruptcy

Foodora couriers across the country will receive a $3.46 million settlement after the company filed for bankruptcy and shut down its Canadian operations in April of this year, according to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

The settlement was finalized by CUPW and Delivery Hero, the parent company for Foodora Canada.

“This settlement shows what happens when workers have unions fighting for them,” says Jan Simpson, CUPW National President. “To lose your job during a global pandemic is stressful, but to lose it as a gig worker, with no guaranteed access to government funds is truly terrifying and we are pleased to have reached this settlement to lessen the financial stress imposed on the foodsters.”

Adds Iván Ostos, Foodora courier and union organizer: “We’re happy to see Foodora has acknowledged its workers deserve a settlement. It’s a big change for gig workers. If employers believe it is not worthwhile to do business here, we will fight to make sure workers receive what they’re due.”

It’s been an eventful year for the foodsters. In February, the couriers and drivers in Toronto and Mississauga were granted the right to unionize when the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ruled that they were dependent contractors and not independent contractors, as was their previous classification.

That decision allowed the union certification votes, sealed since August 2019, to be counted. In June of this year, the results were announced: Almost 90 percent of Foodora couriers voted in favour of unionizing with CUPW, becoming the first app-based workers in Canada to successfully unionize.

“Foodora may have left Canada, but the workers are part of CUPW,” says Simpson. “We will continue to fight for their rights, whether it is through the negotiation of this settlement or through collective bargaining with a new employer. We are in this together.”

Foodora Canada managing director David Albert says in a statement that he is also glad to have reached a settlement because it will minimize the impact of exiting the market and ease some of the hardships created by the pandemic.

— with files from the Canadian Press