The working life of a delivery app rider is dictated by the tyranny of time. Time between deliveries, the time it takes to make a delivery, the time that a rider needs to rest, go to the bathroom, eat.
Ulisses Cioffi is a rider who is part of a group that organised last week’s Valentine’s Day strike. There are only a certain amount of deliveries that he can make safely in an hour, he tells me, a maximum of three. For those three, he will make just under £12 an hour. Sometimes, he says, “we cannot even make that”. Every obstacle on the way is a drag on his hourly income. Roadworks, busy restaurants that take longer to prepare deliveries, even the wait on the doorstep. “You’re not going to believe it, but there are a lot of people who order food then go for a shower.”
