On March 16th the management of Foodpanda Myanmar announced significant cuts in pay (also known as basic order fee). In reaction riders logged out of their accounts and self-organized a spontaneous strike. Within three days it was joined by around 90% of the effected workers. Approximately 9,000 Foodpanda riders work in Myanmar, 7,000 of which in the capital city Yangon.
On March 19th Foodpanda Myanmar stated that the cuts were a technical error. The following day riders met with the company management, but negotiations were unsuccessful. Therefore the strike continued. (source: myanmarlabournews.com)
According to an involved rider they are now only paid 500-600 MMK (0.25 – 0.30€) for a distance for which they used to get 1000 MMK (0.50€).
There are many other problems. Each rider has to pay 85,000 MMK for a rider account. The company cuts off the orders or suspends the accounts, if riders make complaints. Foodpanda also recruits new riders without being able to provide already existing riders with orders.
Another meeting with the Foodpanda Myanmar management took place on April 20th. Hardly any willingness to move towards the workers was expressed. Instead the management shifts the responsiblity to Foodpanda boards in other countries, as mentioned in this video by the riders:
Three demands are patricularly important to the riders:
- Provide a basic delivery fee of 670 MMK (0.34€), plus a distance fee of 100 MMK (0.05€) per kilometer!
- Provide riders with insurance benefits: health insurance, bicycle insurance and motor insurance!
- Distance calculation: currently the linear distance is used to calculate the money paid for the delivery. But since the riders take the streets, the actual traffic routing should be the basis for the pay.
No further meetings are planned for now.
In mid April riders reached out to the ICL working group Asia for support. Together a letter to the management of Delivery Hero, the Foodpanda parent company, was finalized.
„We are riders from Foodpanda Myanmar. We are writing to inform you about the violations that the Foodpanda Myanmar company is doing. Very recently, the company has tremendously reduced the basic order fees that it pays to the riders. This reduction is making us and our families who depend on us very difficult for our day-to-day survival needs. Most important of all, we do not get paid adequately for the labor we put in.“ (download complete letter)
The letter was also forwarded to the Foodpanda headquarter in Singapore as well as to the management in Myanmar. No reactions so far.
What next?
Currently riders in Berlin are discussing on how to approach the Delivery Hero headquarter. While riders in Myanmar continue to organize themselves and try to spread inform about their struggle in the international level, for example with these pictures:
In case we receive no positive reactions from Delivery Hero or Foodpanda soon, we will put more effort into connecting foodpanda workers internationally and increase the pressure on the company.
Foodpanda is the lead brand of Delivery Hero in Asia.
„The Berlin-based company [Delivery Hero] forecast full-year revenue in a range of 9.5 billion to 10.5 billion euros ($10.85 billion to $12 billion), and a negative margin on core profit of 1% to 1.2% for 2022.“ (source: nasdaq.com)
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