In order for most of society to survive the isolation comfortably, we find ourselves increasingly dependent on a large fleet of gig economy workers operating at the frontline, ferrying people around and offering indispensable services door-to-door. This isn’t a small group of people— about 1.5 million drivers work for platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber and Ola in India. Services of online delivery have become essential to cafes and restaurants that can now sell only takeaway food.
Digital platforms, like Swiggy and Zomato, have food delivery drivers and riders who are often underpaid, asked to overwork and have no employee rights such as sick leave. In this crisis, we are collectively relying on them to provide an essential service in a time of social distancing. We need to ask: as a society, what do we owe these workers in return?
Many of the delivery executives are already “socially distanced”, without deep networks of family or friends. They are vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination. Most food delivery work is done by migrants through third-party digital platforms. The platforms treat drivers and riders as independent contractors, not employees with the protections and rights of employees. This improves the service for customers and increases profit for the platform, but it also means that individual deliverers make less money.
Not all heroes wear masks, especially since the disorderly distribution of masks by companies have forced some delivery workers to buy their own masks and sanitisers. Many delivery services are implementing contactless delivery procedures, but there is a lack of defined employer responsibility in the platform economy. Not surprisingly, delivery workers fear the coronavirus will infect them, and indeed they are victims of this virus.
Delivery platforms claim that they will financially assist drivers and riders diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed in quarantine by a public health authority for a period of up to 14 days. However, what if a worker with viral symptoms wants to self-isolate as a precaution? There’s no sick leave or worker compensation, and they risk “deactivation” if work isn’t accepted.
Social distancing measures mean the delivery economy and the health of the general population are now intimately linked. To secure and safeguard this now essential service, it is time the law ensured that such workers have the same legal rights and protections as other employees. We need the delivery drivers coming to our doors to be healthy. That health depends on their safety as well as economic and social inclusion.
You could support the millions of unprotected delivery workers by signing this petition and urging authorities to act.