- The heat wave affects the workers who work in the streets during the hours of greatest sunshine.
- The unions ask that the activity be regulated and that if a certain temperature is exceeded, they do not go out to work.
- There is a precedent in Palermo, Italy, regarding schedules, work and temperature, but it is for horses that make tourist tours.
The heat wave in the Northern Hemisphere is harsh, especially in Europe, where record temperatures are being forecast again these days.
In this context, the European Trade Union Confederation called again this week for governments to set a maximum temperature for work, something that currently does not exist in most countries.
Juanita Constablea member of the Council for the Defense of Natural Resources, an NGO that defends the environment, told Reuters that “it is surprising how few countries have standards that regulate activities according to temperature” and that “as global warming progresses, countries are going to pay more attention to what workers need.”
Heat wave and food delivery
“Europe is preparing for a new heat wave and a labor group has no choice but to endure it: that of the delivery men who travel through the cities delivering lunches and dinners to the clients of the applications”, publishes the Reuters analysis this August 11 , a day for which temperatures close to 40 degrees are expected in the center of the Old Continent.
In most European countries, as well as in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and the rest of Latin America, labor practices, such as offering workers cold water, shade and extra paid breaks, they are not legislated or carried out universally.
In this context, the food distribution market segment is an example since most of its workers do not have contracts or have them, but autonomously.
The city of Palermo made headlines when the mayor signed an ordinance so that the horses that transport tourists (something common on the Italian island) receive at least 10 liters of water a day and so that the tours do not take place when temperatures exceed the 37 degrees.
However, as he did not sign any law in that sense for the food deliverers, with the support of a union, a courier who delivers food for Glovo filed a lawsuit demanding similar treatment.
“Am I worth less than a horse?” the worker said in a statement signed by the Italian union Nidil CGILwhich represents workers with flexible contracts.
After the complaint, last week a judge ordered that he be given a thermal bottle for cold water, electrolytes, and sunscreen.
Drivers and contracts
Glovo, Uber and Deliveroo They have a contract model in which the distributors are considered self-employed. Just Eat Takeawaymeanwhile, employs its own drivers in most markets.
spokespersons for Uber Y Deliveroo they told Reuters that what they do is they pass on the official weather advisories to the delivery men with the forecast of the weather and the expected heat.
They also said that “they have the freedom to choose the shift they are going to work and request breaks.”
Critics of the self-employment model say that many workers cannot afford breaks because income is low, even at risk to their physical integrity.
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