“The gig economy breaks people. Our victory over CitySprint is a win for all exploited workers in the sector”, 05 August 2020

… For years, myself and some fellow union members at the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) have been battling it out with my former employer, the courier company CitySprint. To finally win worker status and basic employment rights is an enormous relief after years of bullying and exploitation…

… It’s not just about living without the basic rights … like minimum wage, holiday pay, pensions … It’s about what it does to a person to have to ask for these scraps … what that does to your mental health, your self-esteem, your whole life….

Protests were small at first but everyone there was really valued. The solidarity from other workers across the union who joined our protests really kept us going, especially the cleaners from across London…

After CitySprint’s first defeat in court by the IWGB in 2017, it just changed our contracts rather than comply with the ruling … Our victory last week has broken new ground because it shows companies can’t just cover up the cracks by changing contracts without changing the reality on the ground…

We still don’t know how much backdated holiday pay we’ll be awarded but for me it was never about the money, it wasn’t even just about CitySprint. It was about holding these gig economy companies to account…