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A ROYAL MAIL company has been accused of continuing to misclassify couriers as self-employed contractors seven years after vowing to review the practice.
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) union members at eCourier, the same-day delivery subsidiary, have now launched a strike ballot over the alleged misclassification, pay and bullying.
In 2017, it admitted in a legal settlement that it had incorrectly classified a London-based bicycle courier Demille Flanore as an independent contractor.
He was wrongly denied standard employment benefits such as holiday pay as he should have been classed as a worker instead, the agreement said.
eCourier’s chief executive Ian Oliver immediately announced a review to work out how best to implement the same worker status “for colleagues where it reflects their actual working arrangements with us.”
Reports said that almost all of its delivery riders who are on the road each day are on the same terms as Mr Flanore.
IWGB has now said that the review was yet to take place as couriers, many of whom are Brazilian, launched their Respect & Dignity campaign, demanding worker status, dignified pay, a fairer workplace and an end to bullying and harassment from management and the ballot for strike action.
IWGB president Alex Marshall said: “eCourier, like so many other gig economy companies, is knowingly breaking the law by misclassifying workers as independent contractors, and they’ve done so for years without consequence.
“As usual it’s left to precarious workers to take matters into their own hands and transform their workplace from the ground up, sending a message across the entire gig economy that real change is possible through organising and action.”
Royal Mail and eCourier have been contacted for comment.
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