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
We received news of riders who went on strike in Myanmar following cuts in pay (fees) on March 16th.
UPDATES
March 23rd
The foodpanda company announced that it had reached an agreement with striking riders as the company settled to increase the delivery rate. At the same time half of the riders are still on strike. They keep fighting for the original rate. It seems that half of the riders resumed back their work with the basic rate of 580 MMK whereas their demand was to get 650 MMK which was paid to them before. (source: riders on the ground + myanmarlabournotes.com)
March 20th
Foodpanda Myanmar stated that the cuts were a technical error. Riders met with the company management, but negotiations were unsuccessful. Therefore the strike continues. (source: myanmarlabournews.com)
GrabFood riders said that they will continue the strike as well – until they get paid the previous rates! (source: myanmarlabournews.com)
The following information is based on reports by Myanmar Labour News (1, 2, 3, 4).
Foodpanda Myanmar
In the morning of March 16th foodpanda Myanmar began to cut rider fees without prior notification, though the contract between the riders and the company states that riders should be informed in advance. In reaction foodpanda riders logged out of their accounts and started a wildcat strike in the capital Yangon and rallied in front of the company headquarter in the city.
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€).
Confronted with the protest the foodpanda office pointed the finger at other departments in the company saying it is not responsible.
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. The primary aim of the company is to collect more money with the registration fees from new riders. The company is accused of customer manipulation. Promoting itself with “free delivery” services, but then charging fees because of a “system error”.
Only a day before also riders in Mandalay went on strike in reaction to the cuts.
Foodpanda is the lead brand of Delivery Hero in Asia.
The Berlin-based company 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.
GrabFood riders in Yangon are on strike due to the sudden changes in payments. Now riders get 10 orders at most. As a result they don’t even bring home 10,000 MMK (5,07€) after a full day of work. Late night of March 14th the office suddenly informed the riders that rates will be changed the following day on.
A GrabFood rider stated that he gave up after two days of strike. According to him some riders are getting back to work since many of them struggle to survive. Nonetheless others manage to uphold the strike.
The new payment rates set by GrabFood Myanmar are the following:
Distance
Rate
0-1 km
600 MMK (0,30€)
1-2 km
900 MMK (0,45€)
3-4 km
1200-1700 MMK (0,61 – 0,86€)
20 km
7600 MMK (3,86€)
About 300 riders in more than four zones are currently on strike. Their main demand is to get the rate they were paid before.
Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading superapp based on GMV in 2020 in each of food deliveries, mobility and the e-wallets segment of financial services, according to Euromonitor. Grab operates across the deliveries, mobility and digital financial services sectors in over 400 cities in eight countries in the Southeast Asia region – Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. […] GMV for deliveries grew 63% YoY to hit an all-time high of $2.3 billion.
