After wage negotiations

Lieferando strike: “We are entitled to a raise!”

In front of the Lieferando base in Klagenfurt, the bike messengers vented their displeasure.(Bild: Jennifer Kapellari)

Klagenfurt's Lieferando drivers are getting serious: a two-hour warning strike took place on Thursday! The employees want a fair wage!

"Do I hear ... a strike", read the bicycle delivery drivers' strike signs - a reference to the delivery company's popular advertising slogan. "It's about recognizing and communicating the seriousness of the situation," says Simran Deep Sandhu, Lieferando works council member at the Klagenfurt site. The delivery giants have made a fortune during the pandemic and should at least adjust wages to inflation in the collective bargaining negotiations, he demands.

"It's a back-breaking job"
The trade union is clear: "We are talking about a low-wage sector here, we are demanding a fair increase in wages, which are already low!" For the drivers who went on strike on Thursday between 1 and 3 p.m., they talk about a "back-breaking job" - in which they constantly give their best: "That's why we deserve an increase!" 34 employees deliver food in Klagenfurt, whatever the weather, sometimes until 10.30 pm. In the last round of negotiations, the employees were offered 5.8 percent, with rolling inflation at around 8.7 percent.

According to Sandhu, what happens after the strike "depends entirely on the employer side." He appeals for a return to the negotiating table and to find an acceptable solution. Although the atmosphere between the company and employees in day-to-day business is not too tense, the fact that an employee of the Austrian Trade Union Federation was shown the door by the Lieferando bosses speaks volumes.