Deliveroo couriers in Hong Kong take protest over new pay policy into third day
- Riders claim company’s new system includes targets impossible to reach
- Representatives say workers will be paid less, but company says policy more accurately reflects delivery times
More than 100 Deliveroo couriers in Hong Kong on Tuesday continued for a third straight day their protest against a new payment structure they say will cut their earnings.
According to the couriers, they could earn a minimum of HK$35 (US$4.50) for a takeaway order made on foot, or HK$50 for an order made with motorcycles, or HK$55 per hour if they did not get any order in peak hours.
And the self-employed couriers of the food takeaway firm could choose how many orders they wanted to pick up.
Under the new policy, the minimum earnings level was removed, and couriers have to take at least 80 per cent of assigned orders in a week to get a new “boost fee” bonus.
A representative of the riders said that translated into a pay cut of about 30 per cent for some of them.