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Former Foodora delivery drivers win payout, but are still owed plenty

Australian delivery riders who used to work for Foodora will receive just under 30 cents for every dollar they claim they were underpaid.

The food delivery company, which quit Australia in August 2018, owes nearly $8 million in unpaid wages and superannuation to its former workers.

But under an agreement revealed on Friday, its German parent company – global giant Delivery Hero – has agreed to pay out just $3 million. After the company’s administrators take their costs, $2.27 million of that remains.

The liquidator tried to contact 5500 former Foodora workers, but only 1700 lodged claims for backpay.

The Transport Workers Union said the payout equated to about 29 cents in the dollar (before tax) for the 1700 workers.

“This is an important day for workers in the on-demand economy worldwide,” TWU’s Tony Sheldon said.

“Delivery riders in Australia have shown that when they stand together and take on some of the biggest tech giants in the world, they can win.”

Foodora had been accused of systematically exploiting its pink-uniformed bicycle delivery riders and underpaying them.

It also claimed to be “solvent” not long before it went into voluntary administration last August, yet – according to the ABC – owes $28.3 million in “loans” to Delivery Hero.

On Friday, the TWU congratulated Foodora’s administrators for the outcome for workers, but criticised the federal government for failing to hold the company to account.

In November 2018, a food delivery rider who was sacked after publicly criticising the conditions he and other workers endured won a landmark unfair dismissal case against Foodora.

The Fair Work Commission decision found Josh Klooger was an employee of the company, not a contractor, as Foodora had argued.

“This is a great win for riders – but it should have been more,” Mr Klooger said.

“It is now time for other on-demand economy companies to comply.”

Mr Klooger was among the earliest batch of Foodora riders, paid $14 an hour, plus $5 per delivery.

But within two years, the company paid new workers as little as $7 per delivery, with no hourly wage.

-with AAP

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