Striking Foodpanda staff back at work ahead of talks

A group of striking Foodpanda delivery staff were back at work on Monday after the company agreed to hold talks with them to try to resolve a labour dispute.

The meeting between the two sides is set for Tuesday.

Waqas Fida, who helped manage the industrial action, said the stoppage shut down food deliveries in Tsim Sha Tsui and To Kwa Wan last weekend.

He said workers are angry about cuts in delivery fees pay cuts and suspensions triggered by customer complaints, among other issues.

“We got the notification in the last few days: ‘You have cancelled more orders, so you are suspended for two days’, and if two to three times you’ve been suspended they’ll terminate you for six months,” he said.

“So if they’re suspending or terminating us, what do we do? That’s why people are really angry this time.”

Foodpanda estimated that about 200 of its 10,000 active couriers took part in the strike.

The company has said its gradual cutting of its workers’ base service fees for certain districts does not mean that they would necessarily earn less.