Despite the company closing its Canadian operations, the vote remains an historic victory.
In an historic vote result released June 16, 88.8% of Foodora "couriers and drivers in Toronto and Mississauga voted in favour of unionization with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, becoming the first app-based workforce in Canada to do so."
The victory is bittersweet given that the company announced at the end of April that it was ending all operations in Canada. It did so in the wake of a ruling by the Ontario Labour Relations Board that the workers were eligible to unionize. The company had argued that they were not eligible as they were "independent contractors".
The high-profile unionization campaign and vote that led to this ruling were important in asserting the rights of gig economy workers to organize and to gain proper protections and rights as workers. The campaign and ruling has implications well beyond Foodora.
The vote results had been sealed and uncounted until the ruling.
Jan Simpson, CUPW National President said of the vote:
"People said gig workers can't be organized, but these workers just proved that you can. Just because Foodora left, doesn't take away what these workers achieved. They have paved the way for all precarious workers to gain rights and unionize, and we are honoured to stand by them and support them, and all other gig workers in the struggles to come."