“Workers must have a voice in how these technologies are introduced. They must have the right to challenge automated decisions. And they must be protected from losing their jobs in the name of innovation.”
Cristina Ioanitescu, General Secretary of the App Drivers’ and Couriers’ Union spoke at a Campaign for Trade Union Freedom and Institute of Employment Rights fringe meeting in Durham on the eve of the Miners’ Gala. You can see her speech in full below.
Thank you to the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom and the Institute of Employment Rights for inviting me to speak tonight, and for the work you do every single day to defend workers against exploitation in all its forms.
I stand here as the newly elected General Secretary of the ADCU for one reason: anger. Anger at what hundreds of thousands of platform drivers and couriers endure simply to support their families.
And anger that the sexist abuse, harassment and assault I faced as a woman driver was dismissed by my employer because I was “not an employee.” That is the reality of platform work in Britain today — an employment law free zone where companies deny responsibility while workers carry all the risk.
ADCU represents 10,000 of the most exploited workers in the economy. Forced and bogus self‑employment is not a side issue for us — it is the daily lived experience of drivers and couriers working for Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo, Evri and Amazon.
Tonight, I bring their voice and their solidarity to the campaign for the Employment Rights Act 2, and especially to the fight for genuine worker status.
On the eve of the Durham Miners’ Gala, we are reminded that working people have always had to fight for dignity, security and respect — both where they work and where they live.
Durham is not just an event; it is a living testament to solidarity, community and the power of collective organisation. It teaches us that when workers stand together, they are stronger than any employer, any government, any corporation — or any techbro’s app.
Five years after the Supreme Court judgment against Uber, people still tell me that our members “won” worker status and the minimum wage. Yet our drivers report 14‑hour shifts, average earnings of £9 an hour, no sick pay, no paid holidays, and dismissals at the click of a button with no reason given and no right of appeal. Rights on paper mean nothing when companies ignore the law and regulators refuse to enforce it.
The uberisation of work is spreading across the economy. Warehouses, logistics, retail, healthcare — employers are increasingly using algorithmic systems to allocate work, monitor performance, determine pay and make decisions about people’s livelihoods.
What is happening to Uber drivers today could happen to millions of workers tomorrow. That is why the fight of gig workers matters far beyond the gig economy, and why ADCU is committed to building practical solidarity with sister unions across the movement.
Last month, I attended the International Labour Conference in Geneva as the UK delegate of the International Alliance of App‑Based Transport Workers. After years of campaigning by workers and unions worldwide, the International Labour Organization adopted the first global Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy. For the first time, platform workers were recognised as workers entitled to fundamental rights and protections, regardless of how companies choose to classify them. You could feel the emotion in the room. Workers from every continent knew they were witnessing history.
But history only matters if it becomes change. And change will not come from companies voluntarily respecting the law. The courts have spoken, but the companies have stuck their fingers in their ears. When governments and regulators refuse to implement the law, workers have no choice but to organise — and to raise serious questions about the scale of corporate influence over our democracy.
ADCU is fighting back. We are demanding minimum wage rights for drivers. We are challenging dynamic pay systems that manipulate earnings through opaque algorithms. We are campaigning for fair pay and protections for couriers. We are exposing intrusive surveillance technologies that treat workers as data points rather than human beings.
And we are sounding the alarm about autonomous vehicles. More than 100,000 drivers in London alone face the threat of displacement if AVs are introduced without a just transition.
The economic impact of removing these workers — £3.3 billion in annual earnings — has not even been assessed by London authorities. That money will not be redistributed into local communities; it will disappear offshore, out of HMRC’s reach, when remote‑controlled cars fully arrive.
Technological progress must never mean sacrificing workers. No worker should be discarded because an algorithm is cheaper. No family should face the cliff‑edge uncertainty that mining communities were forced to endure. That is why the proposals championed by CTUF and IER, including a Worker First AI Bill, are essential.
Workers must have a voice in how these technologies are introduced. They must have the right to challenge automated decisions. And they must be protected from losing their jobs in the name of innovation.
We have heard politicians say that workers are “standing in the way of progress.” We have heard that before.
The lesson of the Big Meeting is clear:
When workers are isolated, they are vulnerable; when workers come together, they have power. That was true for the miners and their communities; it is true for ADCU members today.
Solidarity from ADCU members. Thank you.
- Cristina Ioanitescu is the General Secretary of the App Drivers’ and Couriers’ Union (ADCU).
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