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A DELIVEROO rider in Nottingham suffered a racist assault while working just days after another was murdered in London, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said today.
Ibraheem, whose last name is withheld for his safety, attempted to intervene in an assault on another delivery worker being beaten and spat on by two pedestrians on Monday, according to the IWGB.
The pedestrians then threw Ibraheem against railings and began calling him a “dirty brown bastard” and telling him to “go back to his country” before police arrived at the scene.
Ibraheem said: “It’s hard to express how it feels being told to go back to your country in the very city where you were born and bred.
“Delivery riders are being targeted and intimidated a lot. We’re in danger every day we go to work.
“I’ve got no entitlement to sick pay or holiday pay, so I’m going back out in the streets to work tonight because I can’t afford to stay home.”
Ibraheem said he received no support from Deliveroo, which suggested that he work outside his own city.
He is concerned that working in an unfamiliar place could be even more dangerous.
“We deserve better than that,” he added.
Last week, UberEats and Deliveroo rider Takieddine Boudhane was fatally stabbed in Finsbury Park, north London, in a suspected road-rage attack by a van driver.
IWGB chairman Alex Marshall said: “Delivery workers are putting their lives on the line for poverty pay and black, Asian and minority ethnic workers are among those most at risk.”
He said the union has seen a “worrying” rise of accidents and assaults at work, while companies “take no accountability.”
A Deliveroo spokeswoman said the company has a dedicated 24/7 rider support team for accidents and safety concerns.