VR leader backs Wolt couriers’ strike over pay

Halla Gunnarsdóttir, chair of Iceland’s VR trade union, has welcomed a work stoppage by Wolt couriers and urged them to seek help from the trade union movement, mbl.is reports.

“Very good of Wolt couriers to rise up together,” Halla wrote in a Facebook post.

About 60 Wolt couriers stopped working on Wednesday to protest their terms. According to RÚV, the couriers say Wolt has reduced their payments and that, in some cases, they lose money by accepting deliveries.

Halla said the dispute was not limited to Wolt’s operations in Iceland. She wrote that Wolt had caused problems across the Nordic countries, alleging that the company had refused to respect collective agreements and minimum workers’ rights. She added that collective bargaining talks with Wolt had most recently broken down in Finland.

VR and the Federation of Labour Unions, LÍV, have taken part in Nordic trade union cooperation on platform work. Nordic labour organisations issued a joint statement last week urging companies operating such platforms to enter genuine collective bargaining. The statement said Nordic trade unions had been in talks with Wolt for years, but that the discussions had stalled. VR and LÍV were among the organisations behind the statement.

Halla said the aim of the cooperation was to adapt new technology to the Nordic labour market rather than allow workers’ rights to be sacrificed in the service of technology, however convenient it might be for consumers.

She urged Wolt couriers to contact ASÍ, VR or other trade unions.