A video spreading on X shows a group of delivery workers in France gathered around six to eight smartphones on a public ledge, apparently running delivery apps and turning down low-paying offers while they wait for better ones. The accounts sharing it say the tactic pushes the Uber Eats algorithm to raise its offers to €15 or more per delivery. That claim has not been verified, and I found no response from Uber Eats, no independent reporting on where or when the video was filmed, and no evidence that rejecting orders together really raises payouts. Still, the clip has struck a nerve because couriers have long complained that delivery apps set pay through opaque algorithms that workers cannot see or challenge.

The video also lands in the middle of a bigger fight over how delivery platforms treat their workers in France. On April 22, 2026, four associations that help couriers filed a criminal complaint for human trafficking against Uber Eats and Deliveroo, citing a survey of about 1,000 couriers in which 98 percent were born abroad and roughly 64 percent had no residence permit. Many undocumented couriers rent accounts from others, with one courier saying account holders demand about 150 euros a week, and a 2025 report by France's platform labor authority found that gross hourly earnings at Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Stuart fell between 2021 and 2024. Uber Eats called the complaint baseless and Deliveroo rejects any comparison to exploitation. The big questions are whether the phone trick actually works, whether the platforms will react, and what it says about how far workers will go to push back on pay.