Delivery company Dáme jídlo has announced the creation of a new position to improve communication with partner couriers, responding to their suggestions or complaints and offering rewards based on positive evaluations. The company’s logistics chief, Tomáš Kýček, said that communication with couriers is an essential element of the company’s development and that the new position would focus on direct contact with couriers to respond to their daily needs, comments, and suggestions to improve the whole system. The company already had plans to establish the position before protests by couriers from a rival company, Wolt, over changes in the remuneration system that resulted in a drop in their earnings.

Couriers primarily work for the company as freelancers on a partnership basis, but Kýček emphasized that they should be treated as another type of employee. Couriers can also work for so-called “fleets,” external companies that work with Dáme jídlo and can rent cars to couriers, for example. According to Kýček, the courier community is interconnected, and remuneration is a sensitive issue for them, so the company wants to be as transparent as possible. “It is important that couriers know how the company rates them,” he added.

Dáme jídlo currently works with more than 4,600 couriers, and the company wants to make cooperation more effective through better communication and offer couriers the opportunity to receive significantly higher remuneration for quality work. While some people, such as students, come as couriers to earn extra money, others only work seasonally, and some devote most of their time to the job as if working full-time.

The protests by Wolt couriers are likely to lead to the formation of a new union called the Platform Workers Union, which received support from the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS). The organizers of the protests said they were setting up a trade union for all workers in the sharing economy.

Dáme jídlo was founded in 2012 by internet entrepreneur Tomáš Čupr, who is behind online supermarket Rohlík.cz and discount portal Slevomat. Since 2014, Dáme jídlo has been part of Delivery Hero.

In conclusion, the creation of a new position to improve communication with partner couriers by Dáme jídlo is a positive step towards addressing the concerns and suggestions of couriers, offering them rewards based on positive evaluations, and making cooperation more effective through better communication. This move could set an example for other companies in the sharing economy to improve communication with workers and address their concerns.

Article by Prague Forum