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.
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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.