Spanish union calls for investigation after Glovo delivery rider's death

BARCELONA (Reuters) - One of Spain’s leading trade unions has asked prosecutors to investigate Spanish delivery start-up Glovo for violating workers’ rights, according to a legal complaint filed on Thursday, days after a rider died while completing an order for the company in Barcelona.

Businesses in the so-called gig economy, such as Glovo rival Deliveroo and Uber, are embroiled in legal action over labour rights in multiple countries.

App-based Glovo, which last month raised 150 million euros ($167 million) to fund overseas growth, is focused on Latin America and Europe.

In a complaint to public prosecutors in Barcelona, the UGT trade union said that Glovo should be investigated for failing to protect its workers or provide them with formal contracts or access to social security benefits.

"UGT believes that the company, Glovo, imposes on its workers, through deception and abuse of their vulnerable status, labour conditions and social security conditions which violate the protections afforded to them by law," the union said in a statement.

A rider was killed on Saturday in a traffic collision in Barcelona while delivering an order for the company. The victim was a 22-year-old Nepalese man who UGT said had arrived in Spain several months earlier.

Glovo said the rider was not associated with the company and may have been using another person's account, a practice it says is illegal.

Asked for a comment on the UGT request, Glovo said only that it "has always, and especially this week, collaborated with law enforcement agencies and has great respect for justice".

($1 = 0.8979 euros)

(Reporting by Sam Edwards; Editing by David Goodman)