Athens, 12 August 2022
Statement of the Union of Efood’s Workers (Athens) on the recurring work accidents of efood’s colleagues
Recently we have all witnessed work accidents that led to the death or serious injury of colleagues. In the never ending list of these daily horrors, there are some things in common. The majority of the accidents happen towards the end of the shift, and the repercussions of the accidents are mainly due to lesions to the head, despite the fact that our colleagues were wearing the “Jet” helmet (a type of helmet that leaves the face uncovered) provided by efood as means of personal protection.
For the hole duration of the shift, the application bleeps non-stop in the same way as the countdown of a time-bomb, thus diverting our attention from driving, forcing us at the same time to travel exhausting distances. The discomfort of the endless bleeps of the app are by and large pointless, and the only function they have is to keep the riders in a constant state of “vigilance”.
Indifferent to our lives and safety, efood has created a suffocating and stressful environment with both occult and self-evident rating systems that drive us straight to death.
Efood refuses to provide us the adequate Means of Personal Protection that are required for driving safely, and instead it give us helmets completely unfit for the particular type of work that the same company created, which is: immense geographic areas of delivery, forcing us to cross throughways, driving with unstable vehicles because of the massive “killer” delivery box, with unchecked weights and types of products.
For efood, to predict the risk of accidents in the job is not just an unknown concept, it is a taboo. It outrageously avoids to present us a study about the dangers and risk factors connected to our working activity as it is required by law, and refuses any dialogue with workers about their own safety. And of course, it has worthy supporters in the Labour and Transports ministries, that since three years now make everything they can to block any common process of collaboration between the two ministries for the registration of the correct Means of Personal Protection. The same happens with the Inspectorate of Labour and their non-existing inspections in a very dangerous profession like ours.
With the freelance model, the law Chatzidaki opened the door to a new type of slavery. The occult or self-evident subcontractors that rent the app to immigrants, making them work undeclared with 12-hour shifts and no one even knows what person is actually working at any given time, as the code of silence reigns supreme.
This environment gives the ease to companies like efood to act as a state within the state, advertising its social logo on our bloodstained helmets.
We demand to efood and to the Inspectorate of Labour to tell us exactly who was killed and under which conditions the night of the 27th of July, what was his relation with the colleague that efood wrongly announced dead, and what was his labour relation with the company.
We demand the immediate joint decision from the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Transports regarding the correct registration of the Means of Personal Protection.
We demand an inspection by the Inspectorate of Labour towards efood company, for all the work accidents and the undeclared work that happen in the platforms.
We demand Hazardous Occupation Insurance for all riders with two-wheels vehicles.
WE CALL EVERYBODY ON WEDNESDAY 17/08/22 AT 14:00 TO A PROTEST GATHERING OUTSIDE OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR.
Union of Efood’s Workers (Athens)
