Photo shows Toters' drivers outside a restaurant in Hamra, Beirut. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Delivery drivers for Toters, a Lebanese mobile application that connects customers with food and groceries, went on a partial strike this week to protest low wages, which are set in the continuously collapsing lira.
Toters apologized in a tweet on Friday to its customers “for not being able to deliver from your favorite stores, as you've gotten used to over the past few years due to a partial driver strike.”
Drivers, who typically deliver via motor scooter, complained to L'Orient-Le Jour of unfair wages and no work benefits such as medical coverage despite dangerous conditions.
Toters apologizes for not being able to deliver from your favorite stores, as you've gotten used to over the past few years due to a partial driver strike.(1/4)
— toters (@toters_delivery) February 3, 2023
Toters "has been constantly updating the driver earnings in response to the changing exchange rate in the informal market and gas price fluctuations," the company said via Twitter.
"As it stands, the average driver compensation per order is more than 45,000 LBP (excluding tips), and can reach 150,000 LBP (excluding tips) for a longer distance order," Toters added.
The company's tweets came after Beirut-based analysis group Synaps tweeted a thread that detailed the delivery workers' strike and complaints.
Testimonials collected from drivers by L'Orient-Le Jour paint a similarly bleak picture.
According to eight delivery drivers, Toters last week was in fact paying workers LL18,000 per delivery despite charging customer LL35,000 to LL50,000 in delivery fees, depending on the distance.
Harsh conditions
Each day, a delivery driver makes an average of 20 to 25 trips. Road conditions are often dangerous and salaries, which the drivers receive by cash transfer at the end of the month, does not always make the hard work worth it.
"Sometimes we get more because we deliver to more remote areas, but we spend more on gasoline, so it's not worth it for us," said one of the drivers, Bilal*, who said he earns an average of LL420,000 a day and spends LL300,000 on gas.
Toters’ drivers also have to take on the cost of fuel by themselves which is becoming increasingly difficult as fuel prices continue to soar amidst the economic collapse.
"Our employers are quiet in their heated offices, while we freeze in the rain. What's the point of all this? I can't even pay my rent of $120 a month," said a young Syrian driver.
'Independent contractors'
Under Lebanese labor law, the drivers are considered independent contractors, which means they have no social security or medical coverage and can be fired at any time.
"That's what our bosses told us to make us go back to work today," said Bilal, 23, who added that he hasn't made a delivery in the past four days in protest.
The strike was finally stopped Friday afternoon, after the company agreed to pay LL26,000 per trip, according to the delivery workers interviewed.
"We wanted at least LL35,000, but they shut us down and asked us to give them until the end of the month to see how the situation develops," said Hassan.
Toters did not immediately respond to L'Orient-Le Jour's request for comment.
Hassan said he regretted more drivers hadn't joined the strike, which could have "paralyzed" the company. "We are not united. Many were afraid to demonstrate, because they have families," he said.
The lira was trading at more than LL64,000 to the dollar on Friday afternoon. Some experts have said it is possible the dollar will double in value against the lira by the end of the year if the status quo continues.
Strikes across all sectors of the economy in Lebanon frequently take place, paralyzing certain parts of the country.
In more than three years of economic crisis in Lebanon, the national currency has lost more than 97 percent of its value. Meanwhile, without a president or fully empowered cabinet, the Lebanese authorities continue to stall in adopting the reforms needed to halt the country's economic and financial collapse.
*L'Orient-Le Jour has changed the names of the delivery drivers at their request, as they feared negative work repercussions.