Delivery Hero Riders United – Solidarity with strike at Foodpanda Myanmar!

Riders as well as labor unions connected to brands owned by Delivery Hero are currently in the process of uniting around the world.

The past few weeks and months have seen several strikes and protests at various companies owned by Delivery Hero. For example at Foodpanda Hong Kong, Foodpanda Pakistan, Yemeksepeti in Turkey, Talabat (United Arab Emirates), efood (Greece) and Foodpanda Myanmar. Most recently the International Confederation of Labor (ICL) forwarded a letter written by riders on the ground following a wildcat strike at Foodpanda Myanmar.

Delivery Hero, with its headquarter in Berlin, usually sits out the efforts by workers. Consequently Foodpanda riders in Myanmar, with support of the ICL Working Group Asia as well as external translators, kicked off efforts of connecting Delivery Hero riders worldwide.

The initiative Delivery Hero Riders United was born.

You are working for a brand linked to Delivery Hero or are involved in a union used by Delivery Hero riders to get organized? Get in touch with us: asia@icl-cit.org.

Strike by Foodpanda riders in Myanmar Reloaded!

Since the management didn’t react to their demands riders decided to go on strike again on June 6^th, 2022.

They laid out their goals and call for boycott in this statement.

Due to the current political situation in Myanmar, with the military junta still in power and labor union activities being banned, the delivery workers are unable to rally in the streets. But some riders still took some pictures:

A comrade on the ground reported in the evening of the day:

The strike attracted attention of local media outlets. Many local groups such as student unions and resistance political forces, also helped spread the news about the riders strike (except one sad news is a group of youth who did rally in Monywa city in support of riders’ strike were chased by military and police vehicles and tried to run into them, fortunately they could avoid the hit and run). Riders said about 90% of them joined the work stoppage and are trying hard to keep the momemtun, surely this will be a challenging task due to foodpanda’s employment of enough new riders to substitute the old ones. But riders are determined to fight until their demands are achieved.

International solidarity

Riders of the Base Union Assembly for Bike and Motorbike riders (S.V.E.O.D.) rallied in front of efood headquarter in Athens and also managed to inform people inside the headquarter about the strike by the colleagues in Myanmar. Efood Delivery workers are organized with S.V.E.O.D. and therefore also help fellow colleagues to unite internationally.

The following statement was issued:

Colleagues,
in the global village of planet earth, distances have been reduced to zero. Whether we are working in Athens, in Rio de Janeiro, in Sydney or in Yangon Myanmar, the struggle for full salary and insurance rights is a common one. The struggle for class dignity and class pride doesn’t have any age, it doesn’t have colour, it doesn’t have sex or gender, it doesn’t have religion, it doesn’t have nationality. International solidarity and the common struggles of our class were, are and will always be our collective answer to every violation of our labour rights.
As a union we support the struggle of our colleagues in Myanmar that starts on 6^th of June 2022, challenging the boot of the military regime, against the exploitation and the oppression of the digital platform Foodpanda, subsidiary of the German multinational Delivery Hero.

source: sveod.gr

In Istanbul the Tourism, Leisure and Service Workers’ Union (TEHIS), within which also riders of Yemeksepeti (Delivery Hero) are organized, arranged a rally in solidarity:

To support the struggling riders they released the following statement and call on unions worldwide to endorse it with them together:

Announcement of Delivery Hero’s workers regarding the strike of Foodpanda Riders in Myanmar

5^th June 2022

Foodpanda (Myanmar), a subsidiary of Delivery Hero, entered Myanmar gid economy in 2019. At that time, Foodpanda (Myanmar) paid 1800 MMK per order (around US$1.2 per order). However, in 2021, when commodity prices increased and the MMK depreciated, during the time of political instability and the Covid pandemic, Foodpanda (Myanmar) decreased the order fee to 400MMK per order (US$0.22) without any consultation in advance with riders. We understood that the company had violated our human and labour rights, therefore we boycotted Foodpanda (Myanmar) on March 16^th 2022, and protested with our seven demands.

Foodpanda (Myanmar) said they would send our issue to the Delivery Hero Headquarter, though there is no progress. Like the case of Myanmar Foodpanda riders, Delivery Hero Company is exploiting the labour of delivery riders all over the world. Regarding such exploitation of Delivery Hero company on a global scale, we, all riders from Delivery Hero company, from different countries, stand together with the strike and demands of Foodpanda riders from Myanmar.

The demands of Foodpanda rider Myanmar are as follow.

1. To set the minimum delivery fee to 670 kyats ($ 0.36) per delivery and increase the fee depending on the distance of the delivery and the batch of riders.
2. To restrain the strict rules of the computer system of the software that is controlling the delivery riders.
3. To take responsibility for any accident or injury that happens during work hours. (Please be informed that we, the riders, will not accept the plan by the Foodpanda (Myanmar) after the recent negotiation to buy health and motor insurance with our own money by contracting with a third-party private insurance company.)
4. To let riders take a full break day a week without taking any shifts as destined by the company if they wish to due to their personal matters.
5. To use the Google Map system to determine both the travel distance of the order and to calculate the distance between the rider and the customer.
6. To notify and inform the riders, concerning any changes made by Foodpanda (Myanmar), formally through the company’s official social media pages and Telegram channels at least a week in advance.
7. To initiate a Hotline Phone number for riders to contact the company if they wish to resolve emerging issues or problems at any time.
8. To issue a Foodpanda rider identification card for the delivery riders.

So far the following organizations endorse this statement:

• Foodpanda riders all over Myanmar
• Freedom Riders Union – Foodpanda (Thailand)
• Free Workers’ Union (FAU) Hamburg
• Gig Riders Alliance of the Philippines (GRAPh)
• Hsinchu Delivery Union (Taiwan)
• Hsinchu Delivery Industry Union (Taiwan)
• International Confederation of Labor (ICL) Working Group Asia
• Kagulong – Philippines
• Riders’ Rights Concern Group (Hong Kong)
• S.V.E.O.D. – Base Union Assembly for Bike and Motorbike riders (Greece)
• Taichung Delivery Platform Service Union (Taiwan)
• Taiwan – National Delivery Union
• TEHIS – Tourism, Leisure and Service Workers’ Union (Turkey)

Also Kagulong and Gig Riders Alliance of the Philippines (GRAPh) released a statement together:

Solidarity with the strike of Myanmar Foodpanda riders!

We declare our support for the ongoing strike of Foodpanda delivery riders in Myanmar. We call on Foodpanda and its owner Delivery Hero to heed the 8-point demands of the delivery riders on strike.

The grievances of Foodpanda delivery riders arise from the capitalist greed of the app which is cutting its labor costs while increasing labor productivity in order to generate more profit. The pay cuts come on top of the opacity of the algorithm that unilaterally dictates on riders how to do their work and how to do it with ruthless efficiency in disregard of safety and health of workers.

These same grievances animated the protests of Foodpanda riders in the Philippines. In November 2020, hundreds of Foodpanda riders held a protest ride to the main office of the Labor Department against reduced pay and safety concerns. Then in July 2021, a separate group of hundreds of Foodpanda riders held a log-off protest in the southern part of the Philippines.

Only through unity and action can Foodpanda riders resolve these workplace grievances. And by solidarity across different countries where Foodpanda and Delivery Hero operate, we heighten our leverage and amplify our power.

Kagulong (Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong)
Gig Riders Alliance of the Philippines (GRAPh)

The strike continues! Regular updates on Delivery Hero Riders United on globalmayday.net.

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