Just Eat Couriers Strike in Zurich Over Planned Layoffs

Couriers for the food delivery service Just Eat in the city of Zurich and the Glatt Valley stopped work on Sunday to protest against planned mass layoffs. The one-day action affected lunch and evening shifts through 10:00 p.m., resulting in the cancellation of more than half of all scheduled shifts in the area, according to a spokesman for the trade union Syndicom.

The strike follows an announcement by Just Eat on October 22 regarding a corporate reorganization that puts around 500 delivery positions at risk of termination. According to union representatives, employees decided to proceed with the work stoppage during a vote on Thursday after an initial protest action conducted in late October yielded no response from the employer. Workers are demanding an immediate halt to the job cuts, the continuation of a business model based on permanent employment contracts, and an extension of the official consultation period until November 30.

Just Eat justified the planned restructuring by pointing to changing consumer habits, noting that demand for food deliveries is increasingly spread throughout the entire day and into the night. According to the company, fixed employment models with shift schedules set two weeks in advance cannot deliver the operational flexibility needed to cover these updated customer requirements. As a result, the delivery service intends to replace permanent staff with self-employed independent contractors in major German-speaking Swiss cities, including Zurich, Bern, Basel, and Winterthur.

In contrast, couriers working in French-speaking Switzerland will remain directly employed by the company due to an existing court ruling that safeguards their employment status. Union representatives stated that staff at several other delivery hubs across the country have indicated their willingness to participate in potential future strikes. Further decisions regarding whether the labor action will be extended to additional Swiss locations in the coming days remain unconfirmed.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com