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Dubai Delivery Drivers Walk Off Job in Rare Protest Over Pay

A delivery driver for the app Deliveroo prepares to make a delivery, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 9, 2021.
A delivery driver for the app Deliveroo prepares to make a delivery, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 9, 2021.Photographer: Jon Gambrell/AP Photo
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Food-delivery drivers protesting wage cuts and grueling working conditions went on an extremely rare strike in Dubai over the weekend — a mass walkout that paralyzed one of the country’s main delivery apps and revived concerns about labor conditions in the emirate.

The strike started late Saturday and ended early Monday, when London-based Deliveroo agreed in a letter to riders to restore workers’ pay to $2.79 per delivery instead of the proposed rate of $2.38 that had ignited the work stoppage as the company tried to cut costs amid surging fuel prices.