Just Eat couriers strike in Zurich over threatened layoffs

Just Eat couriers in Zurich and the Glattal area went on strike on Sunday over threatened job cuts, SRF reported. More than half of the lunch and evening shifts had been cancelled by midday and evening, a Syndicom union spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency.

The one-day strike covered shifts until 10 p.m. “We are striking because we want to negotiate,” the spokesperson said, adding that the employer had so far shown no sign of being willing to hold talks. Employees decided to strike on Thursday after a protest in late October failed to bring results.

Just Eat recently announced mass layoffs. Around 500 couriers face possible dismissal, according to the workforce. Employees are calling for the job cuts to be halted, for a business model based on permanent employment and for the consultation process to be extended until November 30. It was not known whether strikes would continue at other locations in the coming days.

Just Eat announced the reorganisation on October 22, citing changing customer needs and demand for deliveries spread throughout the day and into the night. The company said it could not provide that flexibility with permanently employed couriers and shifts set two weeks in advance. It plans to use self-employed couriers in cities including Zurich, Bern, Basel and Winterthur, while a court ruling means couriers in French-speaking Switzerland will remain employees.