eFood delivery workers in Athens have announced another 24-hour strike on Friday January 10. Workers  argue the popular food delivery app has been working to chisel away their rights by pushing them from salaried full-contract positions to working as freelancers. 

The union demands all freelancers be hired as salaried employees, that they negotiate a collective labor agreement with eFood, and that the company ensures worker safety and provides the legally-required protective equipment to all workers.

Under Labor Law 4808, known colloquially as the Hatzidakis Act, delivery workers are defined as freelancers if they can delegate the work to third parties, choose or refuse which jobs they take on, are able to provide services on a competitive platform, and are able to connect and disconnect from the platform at will. 

The law requires that delivery workers have the right to have some of their costs (for example the helmet, gear, or petrol) covered by the employer, and gives freelancer drivers the right to unionize and strike. 

However by definition freelance workers do not have health insurance covered through their work, or paid time off in cases of sickness or injury. 

Workers argue that without standard contracts and a collective bargaining agreement, their safety is not protected, and the company has the wherewithal to reduce their wages and undermine their working rights at will: “At a time when our salary cannot cover our basic needs, the company is increasing its profits dramatically,” wrote the union in their October strike announcement. “We cannot have a wait-and-see attitude to order price reductions and gamble our lives for horrific wages. Now we must organize en masse to put a brake on the intensification of our work.”

The battle about freelance work at eFood dates back several years. In September of 2021, Efood workers received an email from the company that informed them they would have to shift to being freelance workers, and that their fixed-term contracts would be terminated. 

An uproar followed– workers organized a 24-hour strike. Shortly thereafter eFood released a statement that the email was a “miscommunication as it does not reflect the company’s philosophy and culture” and they had simply meant to invite workers to become freelance partners. 

That summer, in July of 2022, workers of eFood similarly held a 24-hour strike when the company changed the scheduling for drivers. The newly formed eFood workers union asked for full compensation for their petrol expenses, alleged the company engaged in illegal firing methods, and asked for better protective gear. 

In 2023 the eFood workers union began forming a Corporate Collective Labor Agreement centered around the same demands, with a standard salary. They stated they met with company representatives, but eFood never provided a counter proposal or a response to their demands. The union went on strike several times demanding a response, and to protest the danger of driving and completing deliveries late at night.

This year the eFood union has enacted a series of mobilizations, including a 24-hour strike in October and a 48-hour strike in November, all with the same demands– to protest eFood’s push toward a freelance-based model, demanding a collective bargaining agreement, and better safety protections. 

This Friday’s strike is scheduled to coincide with a Labor Inspectorate meeting regarding shift scheduling for salaried employees at the company.