Alison Braley-Rattai, Assistant Professor of Labour Studies at Brock University, and Larry Savage, Professor of Labour Studies at Brock University, had a piece recently published in The Conversation about the Ontario Labour Relations Board’s recent decision to allow couriers from Foodora to unionize and the impact this might have on unionization efforts by workers at other app-based companies.

They write:

“The Ontario Labour Relations Board recently cleared the way for couriers who work for the app-based food delivery company Foodora to unionize. 

 The couriers had filed a union certification application at the board last summer with the help of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). This in turn triggered a board-supervised union certification vote. 

 Foodora objected to the application because, the company argued, its couriers were neither employees nor dependent contractors, but rather independent contractors, in business for themselves. 

 The difference in status matters because independent contractors, unlike dependent contractors or traditional employees, are ineligible to unionize in Ontario. The ballot box was sealed, pending a board decision on the status of the couriers.”

 Continue reading the full article here.