“Wolt Azərbaycan” justifies its actions /UPDATED/

Baku/02.09.22/Turan: Tofig Suleymanov, chief manager of “Wolt Azərbaycan”, confirmed to Turan that a group of couriers is going on strike on September 1-2. “We respect their decision not to take orders, but this group of couriers creates obstacles. They gather at restaurants and do not allow other couriers-partners to take orders,” Suleymanov said.

He said that the reason for the current dissatisfaction was the changes in the payment model implemented since August 29th. All couriers were notified about this and informed in detail about the upcoming changes on August 12th. In addition, meetings were held on August 15 and 16 to study the opinions of partner couriers.

According to the new payment model, the distance traveled by a courier to a restaurant/shop is calculated using a navigator, Suleymanov said. This is the fundamental innovation.

Previously, the distance was calculated in a straight line, but now along the route set by the navigator. According to Suleymanov, the new system was introduced at the request of the couriers themselves. He also denied claims that when two orders are delivered to the same address, the courier only gets paid for one order.

According to the manager of the company, the average hourly income of the courier remains within 5-6 manats. “This means that the average courier earns 40-50 manats for 8 hours of work during the day,” Suleymanov said. According to him, the innovations were not intended to reduce the income of couriers.

The company is working to increase the hourly earnings of couriers and will increase their efficiency. The company is open to listen the opinions of couriers, but urges them to comply with the laws and stop putting pressure on colleagues and restaurants, Suleymanov said.—21B-

*   *   *

2022 September 02 (Friday) 16:04:15

Couriers of "Wolt" strike again

Baku/02.09.22/Turan: Couriers cooperating under a contract with "Wolt Azərbaycan" held a protest action today. They gathered under the bridge near the Koroglu metro station, and then marched on motorcycles to the city center.

Couriers complained about the reduction in tariffs for their wages.

“The price is calculated from the amount of 1.5 manats. At an order distance of up to 500 meters, accruals do not rely. Over 500 meters for every 100 meters, 3 qepiks are charged. In any case, the pay is very low. There are no such low tariffs anywhere in the world,” said one of the action participants.

According to the organizers of the protest,  earlier they received 3.7 manats for 3 km,  but now the payments have been reduced to 2.4 manats. In addition, if two orders are made to the same address, then the couriers are paid only for one. They refuse to go to work until the previous tariffs are restored. 

The protesters reported that they started a strike yesterday, after which several people were fired, and some were summoned to the Main Police Department of Baku.

"We will not go to work until our demands are met," said one of the protesters. The police demanded that the couriers disperse, after which they made a motorcycle race.

At the request of Turan to comment on the situation around the protest, "Wolt Azərbaycan" noted that they would express their attitude on this issue during the day.

In April, "Wolt Azərbaycan" couriers went on strike and then achieved the return of the previous tariffs.  One of the participants in today's action, Afiyaddin Mammadov from the Democracy-18 Movement, was summoned to the Narimanov District Police Department. --06B--