Deliveroo’s gig economy event at Labour conference featured no riders...again

A Deliveroo-sponsored Labour conference event discussing the gig economy failed to feature a gig economy worker on the panel for the second year running.

The event, titled ‘Distinguishing between good and bad work in the gig economy’, featured a panel with Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall alongside Will Shu, the founder and CEO of Deliveroo, as well as a representative from the GMB union and the Tony Blair Institute.

But despite grappling with the question of how the gig economy works, no one on the panel was a gig economy worker, though Shu spent time as a rider when setting up the business.

It is the second year in a row a Deliveroo-sponsored event on the gig economy has featured no workers. Last year Deliveroo riders condemned it as a “PR event”.

When asked by openDemocracy whether a genuine conversation on the matter was possible without a gig economy worker on panel, Shu argued that it was.

“This term of ‘gig economy' is such a broad widespread term when in reality, how all these businesses operate is highly nuanced,” he said.

“I don't know why there's not a representative,” he added. “Maybe next time we can have [a gig economy worker].”

The event comes a day after levelling up secretary Angela Rayner’s conference speech in Liverpool, in which she pledged to ban zero-hour contracts and strengthen union powers in the first 100 days of a Labour government.

At the event, Shu argued the flexibility of Deliveroo’s role drew riders to the job.

“Riders could work in an Amazon warehouse, they could work at Nando's, they could work at the pub, but they choose to work with us because of the flexibility that the job offers, and I think that's a very important point,” he said.

In 2021, it was revealed Deliveroo drivers can earn as little as £2 an hour during shifts. Shu receives an annual salary of £600,000, alongside millions of pounds worth of shares.

Speaking on the subject of gig economy controversies around workers’ rights and working conditions, Kendall said her politics meant dealing with the real world with how it is, not “how you wish it should be”.

She added: “The flexibility agenda is really important. I think there are huge benefits [to the gig economy], but they cannot come at too high a price. That’s what we are trying to do, to make sure the benefits of that flexibility don’t come at the price of exploitation, or too low standards or pay.”

Kendall also said she backed an independent regulator for the gig economy so that issues do not have to go through the courts.

In 2022, Deliveroo announced a union “partnership” with GMB, which was criticised for effectively blocking recognition of the IWGB union that had publicly represented members since 2016 and staged strikes with its drivers.

The GMB recognition agreement also received criticism for not providing employee status for workers and denying them access to basic employment rights such as sick pay and redundancy pay. Couriers also argued that the “guaranteed national minimum wage” would not be upheld as it would only cover when riders were actively on a job, not when they were waiting for orders.

openDemocracy approached Deliveroo for comment.