The founder and CEO of Glovo, Oscar Pierre, argued before the judge this Tuesday that the regularization of the working conditions of thousands of riders announced by the company seeks social peace and avoid new “discussions” with the Labor Inspection, although it has been separated from its criminal case.
Pierre appeared before the magistrate of the 31st investigating court in Barcelona on Tuesday as a defendant for a crime against workers’ rights. The appearance occurs 24 hours after the company announced that it will hire its delivery drivers as employees after five years of legal and labor conflicts due to its false self-employment model.
In addition to the criminal proceedings opened by the Prosecutor’s Office in Barcelona, in a pioneering case in Spain due to Glovo’s false self-employed model, the company has a horizon of litigation derived from its labor operations: the company Just Eat, which does have Delivery workers hired as employees claim 295 million euros from Glovo for unfair competition, while the amount in unpaid contributions and fines from the Labor Inspection amounts to 200 million.
The conflictive context of the Glovo model, described as labor abuse by the ridersmarked Pierre’s appearance. According to legal sources, the manager has stressed, when asked by his lawyer, that the regularization announced this Monday may seem like a “defense strategy”, but that in reality it is a coincidence with no connection to the criminal case.
Pierre, the same sources have explained, has argued that the change in the labor model (pending to be finalized and which has raised skepticism in the unions) seeks social peace in the company and settle the “discussions” with the Labor and Safety Inspection. Social in which the company has been immersed in recent years.
In a statement, Pierre’s defense, carried out by lawyer Cristóbal Martell, has indicated that the manager has explained to the judge that Glovo “has never disregarded judicial requirements and resolutions regarding its relationship model with delivery drivers,” and that has been modifying its operations to comply with them.
The key for the judge to decide whether or not to send the case to trial will be the existence of sufficient evidence to prove that Glovo maintained its work model of false self-employed workers after the Supreme Court declared it illegal in 2020. This is what the Prosecutor’s Office believes, who accuses the manager of “suppressing” the rights of the delivery people. On the contrary, Pierre’s defense maintains that he did change his model of labor relations with the riders, adapting it to the conditions set by the Supreme Court to keep the delivery drivers self-employed.
During his appearance, which lasted about 20 minutes, Pierre did not give details of the new model by which the company will go from having freelancers to hiring delivery drivers. The manager has answered the questions from the Prosecutor’s Office and his defense, but has exercised his right not to respond to the CGT union, which is prosecuting the private prosecution.
Yes, Pierre has given more details about the changes in the conditions of delivery drivers implemented in recent years to keep delivery drivers as self-employed and adapt them to the resolutions of the Supreme Court and the Social Courts.
In its statement this Monday, Glovo, owned by the German group Delivery Hero, assured that it had taken this step “within the framework of its firm commitment to Spain, its country of origin and main market”; and that will open a dialogue table with social agents to guide the change in the labor model.
Pierre insisted this Tuesday before the judge that keeping the delivery drivers as self-employed after the Supreme Court ruling was “lawful,” legal sources have reported. An extreme that the Prosecutor’s Office and the unions question, since they allege that once the employment relationship is judicially ordered, the company is obliged to hire the delivery person. In short, Glovo had no choice.
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