Some gig workers who rely on Postmates for part or all of their income are missing out on paychecks since Uber acquired the food delivery company in December. At least half a dozen gig workers who spoke to BuzzFeed News are experiencing unexplained delays in the transition to Uber’s platform, and some with traffic violations or criminal histories are being denied approval to drive for the app altogether.
By purchasing Postmates in the $2.65 billion deal, Uber removed a major competitor in the food delivery market and put itself on a clearer path to profitability. It’s part of an ongoing consolidation trend in delivery: Eight years ago, Seamless merged with Grubhub, which last year was bought by Just Eat, a leading European food delivery company, for $7.3 billion. DoorDash acquired Caviar in 2019. And Uber only decided to buy Postmates after it had reportedly failed to buy Grubhub.
But for gig workers, the union of two industry competitors means being increasingly dependent on the terms set by a single company.
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