Heatwaves Are Becoming a Labour Issue. Italy's Delivery Riders Are Pushing Europe Into a New Debate
Italy's latest riders' strike is about more than working through extreme heat. It highlights a growing challenge across Europe as climate adaptation increasingly intersects with labour rights, forcing governments and digital platforms to rethink responsibility for workers' income and safety during extreme weather.
The latest heatwave sweeping across southern Europe has turned Italy into the centre of an increasingly European labour dispute.
On 15 July, delivery riders working for Glovo and Deliveroo staged coordinated strikes in Milan, Bologna, Florence and several other cities, arguing that existing heat protection measures leave them facing an impossible choice: protect their health or lose their income.
The demonstrations come as Italian authorities expand emergency restrictions aimed at protecting outdoor workers during periods of extreme temperatures. In cities including Milan, local ordinances temporarily suspend food deliveries during the hottest hours of the day, typically between midday and late afternoon.
For riders, however, the restrictions expose a structural weakness in the platform economy.
When safety means losing your salary
Unlike employees on traditional contracts, many delivery riders are paid per completed order. If deliveries stop, so does their income.
Trade unions representing riders argue that companies should compensate workers whenever official safety measures prevent them from working. Their demand is straightforward: public health protections should not become a financial penalty for those already earning among the lowest wages in the urban services sector.
The strike was organised on the eve of negotiations with Italy's Ministry of Labour, where unions are expected to press for income protection mechanisms and broader social safeguards for platform workers.
The dispute also reflects frustrations that have been building well before this summer. Italian courts have repeatedly examined the employment status of riders, while regulators and labour inspectors have increased scrutiny of working conditions across the sector. Earlier legal actions also forced Glovo to review how it manages health risks linked to extreme temperatures.
A business model under pressure
Extreme weather is becoming another test for Europe's platform economy.
For delivery companies, suspending operations during dangerous weather reduces legal and safety risks. But compensating riders during those periods would increase operating costs in a business built around flexible, on-demand labour.
The debate is no longer limited to Italy. Across Europe, governments are tightening rules governing digital labour platforms while simultaneously introducing stronger protections for workers exposed to extreme heat. As these two policy agendas begin to overlap, companies may find themselves navigating a much stricter regulatory environment than the one that enabled the rapid expansion of food-delivery services over the past decade.
Climate adaptation is becoming part of labour policy, and delivery platforms are among the first industries confronting the consequences.
Negotiations are only beginning
The demonstrations are unlikely to mark the end of the dispute.
Representatives of trade unions, the Labour Ministry and delivery platforms are expected to continue negotiations over compensation for suspended shifts and new rules governing work during extreme heat.
The outcome will matter well beyond Italy. If Rome establishes a framework that links climate-related work stoppages with guaranteed income protection, it could provide a template for other European countries facing increasingly frequent heatwaves and similar questions about the future of platform work.
Sources: ANSA, Reuters