Couriers who delivered food for the Foodoro company service have won a settlement of $3.46 million.
Couriers accused the U.S. company of union busting and appealed to the Ontario Labour Relations Board which has ruled in favour of the couriers.
The settlement was paid "in light of" Foodora's exit from the Canadian market, according to a Tuesday press releasefrom Delivery Hero, Foodora's parent company. The settlement will resolve the claims lodged by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to the Ontario Labour Relations Board against Foodora Canada for that action and set the stage for a nation-wide settlement.
When Foodora announced its departure from Canada, CUPW called the move "a cruel act by a multinational corporation in the middle of a pandemic," and on April 29, lodged an unfair labour practices complaint.
The labour board said Foodora erred in classifying the couriers as independent contractors when they were in fact employees (dependent contractors). This granted the workers the right to form a union, but Foodora announced its departure before the union could be certified.
A similar dispute has arisen with Uber who says its drivers are independent contractors, but some drivers have organized to say they are employees. That issue has not yet been settled.
