Trade unions are supposed to support the workers, not the bosses. GMB shaft Deliveroo driv

The GMB have become the recognised trade union for Deliveroo in a stitch up with management. Scab union behaviour. Deliveroo riders have been campaigning for years to get their employment status properly recognised, that they were in fact employees, with all the rights that go with that, sick pay, holidays etc, rather than self employed where they have none of that, the so called gig economy and those exploited who work within it. The IWGB Union has done much of the work with them on this. Yet the GMB have shown up and crapped all over it, by becoming the recognised – teacher’s pet effectively – trade union. Other unions will now struggle like mad for any recognition by Deliveroo. By doing a backroom deal with the bosses, the workers, few of whom had ever had anything to do with the GMB before, are now excluded from decisions with the GMB acting on their behalf, rather than upon their collective instruction. There’s no democracy in this deal, collective bargaining will be non existent. Deliveroo are one of the most exploitative gig economy companies in the world. For good press, they’ve done a deal with a trade union – with a reputation for being soft on gig economy bosses as the Uber deal from last year showed - to give the impression of workers rights being upheld, but when those same workers are being cut out of taking their part in the process going forwards, they haven’t won a damn thing, they’re at the mercy of whatever gets cooked up between their dreadful bosses and a right wing trade union exploiting an opportunity. Despite court victories regarding pay over waiting times for Deliveroo riders, the GMB have crapped on that too by siding with the bosses and not paying them when they’re not actively delivering. As a result of this stitch up, Deliveroo riders self employment status is officially recognised by the union which has imposed its representation on them. That fight for employee recognition now becomes harder when they can’t go to another union and the one they’re lumbered with isn’t on their side in this matter. It has farther reaching consequences too, as the government was under pressure to deal with the gig economy abuses and the GMB have let them off the hook, by engaging with it. Sadly even the TUC have praised this, as have vacuous Labour Party frontbenchers, but its nothing to cheer and both they and the GMB are copping serious flak and deservedly so. A trade union that goes to the bosses and not the workers is a scab union and is never going to be on your side. The GMB should be ashamed at the damage they’re doing.