About a hundred couriers of the delivery company Wolt demonstrated on Wenceslas Square in Prague on Wednesday morning against changes in remuneration and a reduction in fees. Organizers of the protest said that the company had unilaterally changed the remuneration system, and most couriers had their financial rewards for deliveries reduced by about 20 percent. According to them, after accounting for inflation, the income of couriers fell by up to 50 percent. Wolt countered by saying that it had changed its remuneration model to achieve fairer fee levels and was based on regular questionnaires among couriers. He expects the earnings of couriers to rise soon.

Organizers of the protest announced a one-day strike on Wednesday, expressing dissatisfaction with the company’s approach to its couriers. According to them, the mobile company regularly reduces the paid fees that the couriers see in the application before accepting the order. They are also bothered by the fact that couriers are counted against the kilometers they travel.

The participants of the protest arrived at Wenceslas Square wearing blue jackets with the logo of the Wolt company. Some even came on bikes. They brought with them banners with inscriptions such as Courier is not a slave or Wolt = misery, they blew whistles and shouted various slogans, the most common being heard was “shame”.

The company protested that the couriers had long demanded that the remuneration be determined according to the length of the route or after displaying the amount for delivery before accepting orders. Wolt has over 7,000 couriers in the Czech Republic and conducted a survey among 1,000 respondents. According to the company, most of them introduced changes in perception positively. The firm also said that the daily earnings are now visibly skewed by the record number of people joining the system to try it out, and the situation can be expected to return to normal soon.

Based on the data from the system, according to the company, earnings without tips will be on average between 250 and 300 CZK per hour in Prague and Brno, and it wants to aim for a similar level in the regions as well. Therefore, he asks couriers to wait to evaluate the newly introduced system.

After noon, the protesters want to hand over a petition with their demands to representatives of the company at its headquarters in Prague 7. One of the protesters said that the compensation system was changed last week. Previously, according to him, it was around 60 to 70 CZK and the price increased according to the driving distance. Couriers have 15 seconds to accept the order in the application. The protesting couriers are also bothered by the fact that they will now receive a fee for two orders from the same company as for one, and in their petition they demand two fees for duplicate orders.

Technology start-up Wolt was founded in 2014 in Finland. It now operates in 23 countries. Wolt entered the Czech market five years ago, and currently operates in twenty cities. Delivery companies Dáme jídlo and Bolt, for example, operate in the same field in the Czech Republic.