On Wednesday 26 August, Deliveroo couriers continued their organising drive in Sheffield by organising a boycott of the Mr Miyagi sushi restaurant.
Mr Miyagi had become a byword for disrespect among drivers in Sheffield. They would use the Deliveroo app to oblige drivers to turn up at the restaurant long before the food was prepared. Drivers had to wait a long time for food orders — time for which they were not paid — and run the risk of getting parking tickets, or be subject to complaints from impatient customers.
Mr Miyagi’s owner received a letter from the union outlining these concerns, but failed to respond — until activists from Workers’ Liberty and our friends in the local Labour Party turned up to leaflet and support drivers outside his restaurant on the morning of the boycott. Then, he came out and behaved aggressively, getting in people’s faces and asking one socialist if he wanted “a fucking smack”.
But the man’s arrogance was not rewarded. The boycott was solid. Several drivers joined the union on the spot, and reports tell us that service at Mr Miyagi has improved. Watch this space for more developments.
