Glovo has filed an employment organization filing (ERO) to lay off about a hundred workers in its supermarket division. This represents about 10% of the total number of employees in this sector of activity, which are part of six work centers in the state: Bilbao, Pamplona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Alicante and Granada. The Catalan company confirmed that the service known as “Super Glovo” will no longer operate in these cities. Sources from the multinational company justified the ERO due to “insufficient” demand and “difficult access” to capital and investment. In turn, the UGT union, the majority owner of the company, accused the multinational company. “Their practices stray far from the model of fair labor relations,” he said.
The union warned in a statement that the multinational company had “withdrew from the agreement” and had tightened working conditions for the rest of the workers in the supermarket department. “It has reduced salary salaries by eliminating additions such as the transport bonus, holiday work bonus or clothing bonus,” the General Union of Workers said, criticizing that all this is a response to the “questionably bad economic situation.”
The union also recalls that less than a year ago, in March 2023, Glovo had already fired more than a hundred workers from the company's headquarters located in Barcelona. For all this, the labor organization points out that the company is “looking for quick profit” and demands “respect for the law.” Since 2022, Glovo has been owned by the German group Delivery Hero.
The home delivery company confirmed that the “Super Glovo” service will continue to operate “normally” in other cities (Barcelona, Madrid, Zaragoza, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, and Palma).
The first penalty for violating the “Passenger Law”
On the same day that the dismissal was announced, the first proposed penalty against the model that the company implemented after the racer law was approved was announced. The Labor Inspectorate determined that 49 “riders” in Asturias were also falsely self-employed in accordance with the regulations adopted in August 2021, as advanced by the newspaper “El Periódico” and confirmed by the ACN.
At the same time, the Inspectorate is completing two new major cases against Glovo in Barcelona and Madrid that could end in millions in fines, according to Medium details. TV3 channel indicated that the fine could reach 80 million between the two capitals.
The Ministry of Labor has long threatened the delivery company to go to the prosecutor's office and initiate criminal proceedings for systematic violations of labor law.
Delivery Hero, owner of Glovo, has set aside €400 million to deal with potential fines for non-compliance with regulations, the company noted in the semi-annual report published in August.
On the other hand, also this Thursday, Catalan Public Television reported that the driver of the delivery drivers' protests against the “Rider Law” and the president of the Professional Association of Independent Riders (Apra), Jordi Mateo, is the fleet manager from Glovo. The organization organized protests in the summer of 2021 against the regulations, arguing that riders wanted to remain independent.
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