In August foodpanda riders in Hong Kong submitted an open letter directed at the management following a fatal road accident of a fellow rider. In that letter – which is being supported by at least 25 rider unions internationally – they call for safer working conditions and compensations for the colleague’s family. (globalmayday.net) Reaction by the management: Some warm words, little action.
In September foodpanda finally introduced long awaited changes to the distance calculation system, the so called “real distance calculation scheme”. BUT, at the bottom line it resulted in pay cuts. In reaction riders went on strike for longer than 24 hours during the weekend in mid-October. (globalmayday.net) Reaction by the management: Some warm words, little action.
Consequently riders are back in action again and self-organized a second strike in a short period of time. On November 3rd and 4th (Thursday/ Friday) hundreds of riders refused to sell their labour and rallied at different points across Hong Kong instead:
rally in CE | “We want fair pay!”
Riders rally on the streets Nov. 4th
rally in TKW
On Nov 3 & 4, Hong Kong foodpanda riders had a strike of two full days, following the last one on Oct 15 & 16. The main issue is still the pay cut disguised under the new map system. This time, more zones are on strike and the service is shut down on a larger scale and to a greater extent. Riders become more experienced; the picket lines in some zones are performed in a highly organised way.
In the press conferences, riders’ show the unity and expose the lies made by foodpanda’s public relations. A motorcycle march is held at the busiest city centre.
The company still pretends that nothing happened and doesn’t listen to riders’ voice. The struggle will not end until they invite riders to table talk and fulfill the core demand for FAIR PAY and a TRANSPARENT distance system.
labour activist S. on the ground
We have at least 9 ‘delivery zones’ (that’s more than 14 districts in an administrative or commonly-known sense) where the Pandamart and most vendors are shown as ‘temporarily closed’. TST and Central are the busiest zones with the highest order volume. – Tsim Sha Tsui – To Kwa Wan & Hung Hom – Lai Chi Kok & Sham Shui Po – Central & Peak – Shatin – Tai Wai – Yuen Long – Tung Chung – Tsing Yi
In many other zones there are also riders on strike. The strike is everywhere.
The demands are basically the same as last time, with only slight modification, as this time it’s an escalation following FP’s refusal to talk and denial of the issues.
STRIKE DEMANDS
Fair Order fee a. announce the distance fee formula b. increase the distance fee rate and base fee c. Stack orders: should get 100% order fee; should know the payment of each order and reject accordingly
Freedom to decline and redispatch a. No suspension due to low AR (acceptance rate) b. Cancel the 3-redispatch-then-break rule c. The requirement for Quest should be 75% AR
Insurance protection Increase the accident insurance compensation amount & extend the insurance coverage to 1 hour before and after the shift
Vendor waiting time should be shortened a. Shouldn’t assign to riders long before prepared b. Waiting over 5 min should be paid
Set 5 mins time limit for the customer to pick up orders
Pandamart order weight should be limited to 5-6kg; auto-split should be done better
Transparent and fair suspension & termination process: the company should bear the burden of proof
Make the standard of the Proof of Delivery more reasonable
CS (rider support) should be more efficient and helpful
Provide extra fee for bad weather (rainy days, typhoons, very hot weather, etc)
Company must ensure parking places for riders AND cover 2 tickets each month
During the last online meeting (May 9th) participants discussed how to continue after Global May Day 2021. It was suggested to call for a Global Week of Action related to the Call for International CDM Solidarity in Myanmar as well as to Stop #TigrayGenocide by focussing on the involvement of Starbucks.
To discuss this further it was agreed to invite to another meeting on May 16th.
Don’t worry about joining for the first time. Everyone sympathizing with the Global May Day self-conception is invited to join the meeting!
[UPDATE:June 23rd, 2020: The occupation is currently into the third day. The union affiliated with the GWTUC leading the protests is called Paradise Cables Limited Workers Union. There are currently around 300 workers occupying the Labor Ministry building located in Bijoynagar, Dhaka. They are living on the premises and holding demonstrations and giving speeches all day, and into the night. The GWTUC has set up a makeshift kitchen for food for the workers. Members of other students and workers unions are coming by to offer their solidarity as well. The workers have been negotiating with Labor Ministry officials, but so far the owners have been unresponsive.]
Dear Comrades,
The workers of Paradise Cable Limited factories in Naraynganj, Bangladesh, organized by the Garment Workers’ Trade Union Center (GWTUC) are leading an ongoing indefinite occupation of the Labor Ministry building in Dhaka. They are protesting for the immediate payment of their wages, which have gone unpaid by the owners of the factory for 13 months now. Their other demands include the payment of 3 years accrued overtime pay, vacation pay and bonus pay. The protesting workers are determined not to withdraw from their occupation until their demands are met. The workers had initially attempted to bring out a rally heading to the Prime Minister’s Office but were met with a heavy-handed response from police and security forces, who tried to intimidate the workers and disband the demonstration.
Given the imposed confinement, CGT didn’t call for rallies this May Day. Instead a press conference was given to present the campaign for May Day. The campaign included the goal of a Basic Equal Income (RBIs) – Pictures were published using #1MayoRBIsYA.
Furthermore, after a brief statement by the Secretary General, a digital concert was streamed for about an hour:
On page 21 of the CGT newsletter (.pdf) the call for Global May Day 2020 was published.
May 17th: Chat Meeting to discuss what’s next after GMD 2020
Global May Day 2020 is over, with some very interesting reports on the blog. During this chat meeting we want to explore possibilities of common activities in the near future.
For the past few weeks some anarchist students and workers in Kolkata got organized in a collective looking to build and promote worker solidarity, antifascism and autonomy within all communities. At first they did so as IWW Kolkata. Later they decided to change their name to Gana Samhati Sangha (People’s Solidarity Collective). From the start their focus was on organizing mutual aid in the villages around Kolkata – similar like the comrades of the Dabindu Collective in Katunayake (Sri Lanka) do for garment workers. Among others the Free Workers’ Union (FAU) supports their efforts.
In the Global May Day 2020 the People’s Solidarity Collective saw an opportunity to kick off a new outreaching effort to gather further support for their activities.
As part of these efforts the below video and statement were released:
Last Tuesday we helped the youth of Ghritokham village organise mutual aid in their community for distressed farmers and daily labourers. With the unfaltering support and solidarity of new and old friends, we have now reached out to over 500 families in 6 different villages in the Garh Shalboni region in Jhargram District, West Bengal. ________ The Lockdown Crisis in Jhargram Jhargram has remained a green zone so far with only one reported death. However, the lockdown has affected the economies of the villages here immensely. Since the restrictions began, shops and small businesses have suffered huge losses, labourers have had no income, farmers found themselves unable to sell and transport their produce. In response to the looming uncertainty, they scaled down operations, rendering many farm labourers jobless. The relief that is supposed to be distributed through ration shops are often in short supply. At the time of writing this post, there have been no supplies at some of the local ration shops for over two weeks. Even when there are provisions, a pecking order based on local politics and caste is followed for the distribution. This means that the poorest people in Jhargram have no work, no access to aid from the government, and many have already cut down to one meal a day. The youth of Jhargram have not given up. Each village we go to we find bright young minds taking initiative to take care of their fellow human beings. They understand that the struggle for the future survival of their communities will be a long one. Three weeks back we put out an appeal and solidarity poured in from across the country and the world. With that support we were able to distribute food and provisions to over a 100 families each in the six villages of Koima, Shalboni, Jitushol, Ghritokham, Bagmudi and Painabhanga. __________ We have reached out to a 100 families each in six villages so far, yet there are many others that need relief. We can only keep doing the good work as long as you keep supporting us, so consider making a contribution. At a time like this no amount is too little or too much. Feel free to message anytime for any questions or suggestions you might have.
Send your contributions to:
Gpay: abhijay.gpt@okaxis
You can also transfer the amount to: Account Name: Abhijay Gupta Account No.: 20670110065914 Bank & Branch: UCO BANK – JHARGRAM IFSC Code: UCBA0002067
For international transactions: TransferWise definitely works!
