Either because of the policies to guarantee a minimum level of income or because of the working conditions of drivers and delivery peopleall digital platforms that operate in the country are disapproved when evaluated as a source of “fair work”, according to an investigation by Fairwork Mexico.
Although in some cases relatively good conditions were observed, such as the fact that the average hourly wage is higher than the minimum, the project researchers could not verify that the platforms guarantee this income for all delivery drivers and drivers. The same happened with the rest of the pillars that make up the fair labor concept.
The investigation Labor standards in the platform economyevaluated the working conditions in the Uber, Uber Eats, DiDi, DiDi Food, Rappi, Cabify, inDrive, Jokr and Cabify applications, through interviews with people who work under these schemes and talks with the managers of these companies.
To determine the quality of work, the project rated five pillars:
- Fair wage
- Measures to mitigate occupational risks or safety net
- Clear, accessible and legally aligned terms and conditions
- Adequate management of decisions that affect workers
- Documented mechanism for the expression of the collective voice and willingness to negotiate with a collective body or union.
Fairwork was unable to give any score to the digital platforms analyzed in any of the pillars because it could not be verified that they have these principles or, in some cases, that they are general measures for all couriers and drivers. This way, the score of all apps was 0 in the five minimum standards of decent employment.
“Fairwork is in 38 countries and in several of these, Uber and Rappi had scores. If we look at each country, in some cases the scores of these platforms and this is largely due to specificity. Even if the companies are present in several countries, in some there are adaptations to legal issues,” said Kruskaya Hidalgo, a project researcher.
In the case of health and safety conditionsthe report acknowledges that there are platforms that may be close to obtaining a score in this area, but it was not possible to verify that the measures reported by the workers exist as general policies that apply to all delivery drivers and drivers.
“Any zero score tells us of a deep precariousness of work on platforms, of a process of precariousness of working conditions disguised by a narrative of technology behind an algorithm,” said Paolo Molinaro, president of the president of Centro Solidaridad México, during the presentation of the results.
Impact on physical and mental health
One of the outstanding findings of the research is that this type of activity generates a negative impact on the physical and mental health of people who work as drivers and delivery people, which contrasts with the absence of general policies to reduce work risks. Almost half of the workers in digital platforms recognize an impact in this area.
“For many, the physical wear It translates into poor nutrition, lack of sleep, back and lower back pain, as well as kidney problems. In the case of those who work as drivers, these harmful effects on health are mainly due to a prolonged sedentary lifestyle, while for people who deliver by bicycle, the fact of having to travel long distances with excessively heavy orders is particularly exhausting”, indicates the study.
In addition to this, the delivery men and drivers point out that the traffic conditions generate constant stress for them due to the fear of having an accident, this feeling is accentuated among the workforce that does not have health insurance.
The Fairwork researchers point out the need to investigate the long-term effects on the physical and mental health of application workers, for example, the case of musculoskeletal diseases.
labor regulation pending
Last year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) reported that it was working on a reform to the Federal Labor Law to regulate work on platforms, which contemplates a special chapter in labor law.
In the Congress of the Union have been presented more than 20 proposals and the workers themselves organized in unions and collectives have also added approaches. However, a final project has not been discussed so far.
“Although there have been spaces in which a tripartite dialogue between digital work platforms, workers and government officials has taken place, the platforms have not been receptive to recognizing that there is an employment relationship”, criticizes Fairwork México in its report.
Regulation is important, Paolo Molinaro said, because the model of delivery and travel applications is part of an accelerated digital advance that could be replicated in other activities and violate labor rights of more workers, for example, the hiring of domestic workers through applications.
