DUBAI (REUTERS) - Foreign food-delivery workers in the United Arab Emirates staged a mass walk out on Monday (May 9), calling for better pay and working conditions in a rare instance of industrial action in the country.
The strike follows similar action this month in which foreign workers forced another company to suspend plans to cut pay.
The strike disrupted services of Talabat, a subsidiary of Germany's DeliveryHero, in Dubai, the country's financial centre that is also a regional trade and tourism hub.
A group of Talabat drivers told Reuters in the early hours of Tuesday morning outside a restaurant in Dubai that they had been encouraged to take action to demand a better deal by the strike earlier this month by delivery workers at Deliveroo.
That strike, which massively disrupted Deliveroo’s services over a weekend, saw the British food delivery company meet driver demands not to proceed with plans to cut pay.
Independent trade unions, public protests and industrial action are banned in the oil-rich Gulf autocracy.
The Talabat drivers said they were calling for an equivalent of a US$0.54 (S$0.75) increase in payments to US$2.59 (S$3.60) per order to help with higher fuel costs, which have risen more than 30 per cent this year in the UAE.
“If Deliveroo gives this price... why are we not getting?” a Pakistani Talabat driver told Reuters, requesting anonymity over fears of reprisals from the company and authorities.
Deliveroo drivers in Dubai earn about US$2.79 per delivery.
Delivery drivers in Dubai are low-paid foreign workers and are typically employed via agencies, who many workers say charge them for their working permits, which is illegal in the UAE.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show delivery workers wearing Talabat's predominantly orange uniforms in large groups in various parts of Dubai refusing to make deliveries.
Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.
A Talabat spokesperson said its delivery drivers, who are contracted via agencies, earned on average 3,500 dirhams (S$1,320) a month and that up until last week 70 per cent of its drivers had expressed satisfaction with the company's pay structure.
There had been no recent changes to the pay model, the spokesperson said in a statement, and the company was committed to ensuring drivers can continue to provide for their families.
"We understand economic and political realities are changing constantly, and we will always continue to listen to what riders have to say," the spokesperson said, without saying if the company was engaging with those who were refusing to work.
Talabat drivers whom Reuters spoke to, however, said that after paying for petrol they were earning 2,500 dirhams a month by working 12 to 14 hours a day seven days week.
The drivers warned the strike could continue until the company committed to the pay increase, though some were wary of falling afoul of authorities if the action lasted too long.
Authorities in the UAE, an autocracy whose rulers do not tolerate dissent, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rival Deliveroo last week halted plans to cut earnings of drivers in Dubai by 15 per cent per delivery after workers went on strike in protest of pay and working conditions.
Human rights groups have criticised the UAE and other Gulf states for the treatment of low-paid migrant workers there where they account for a large part of the workforce.
