Foodpanda HK reaches consensus with couriers ending dispute and strike

Foodpanda Hong Kong has reached a deal with its couriers on pay packages yesterday, and the company's fleet will resume working on Friday. 

In a statement, foodpanda Hong Kong said the company reached an agreement over the requests raised. According to a report from the South China Morning Post, after seven hours of meeting on Thursday at its headquarters in Sheung Wan, foodpanda Hong Kong announced that it had reached a consensus with the couriers, promising to improve the riders' pay package and handle issues with its app. However, both sides did not disclose the details of the terms agreed.

The company said, "As a tech company at our core, we have engineers in place working hard everyday making app improvements to enhance the experience for all our stakeholders, including couriers. We were already aware of some of the app-related improvements discussed before the current conversations, and we would like to note that many of the solutions we put forth were already in the pipeline to be rolled out."

Foodpanda Hong Kong's operations director Pedro Dias said the company would come up with solutions for the issues raised by couriers. The report also said that Dias had admitted some of the issues discussed in the meetings on Tuesday and Thursday were about miscommunication between the company and its rider fleet. 

"These operational details are complex and involve many processes and areas of considerations both to riders, and the company. We are doing our best to satisfy as much as possible and we can assure you that we’re moving at full speed to make the delivery experience for our couriers better and their earnings more competitive," the company added.

One of the representative of the couriers said the company had given them a very good package, and the representatives had done their best to get what they wanted. The representative also said extra measures would come into effect next month. He called for fellow couriers to go back to work on Friday before announcing the end of the strike. 

Looking ahead, foodpanda Hong Kong said it will be hosting meetings with fleet members on a regular basis to exchange views, hoping to continuously improve the overall customer experience together with the fleet. 

Last weekend, some couriers went on strike to protest against the decreasing order fee this year. A Ming Pao report said eight representatives of the couriers met with the management on Tuesday, raising 15 demands including setting up the minimum order fee, improving the order assignment system and setting a time limit for picking up deliveries. Both parties talked until after midnight on Wednesday but no agreement had been reached. However, the representatives of couriers said the management of the company showed goodwill, however, it did not agree to set up the minimum order fee. 

Over 300 foodpanda couriers went on strike on Saturday as foodpanda Hong Kong decreased the delivery fee of each order by HK$10 throughout the year. For example, couriers who deliver food on foot saw payouts decrease from HK$35 to HK24 per order, while couriers using their motorcycles had their payment drop from HK$55 to HK$44. A representative of the couriers said he could earn up to HK$1,000 a day in August. However, after the adjustment, his income decreased to just about HK$700 a day.

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