Gig workers of leading delivery apps to go on strike on New Year
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New Delhi: Gig workers at the country's leading online service platforms, Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, and Blinkit, are preparing for a nationwide strike on December 31, raising various demands. Their demands include better wages and a comprehensive national policy for gig-platform workers. The workers also went on strike on Christmas Day, December 25.
The strike has been called by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers. It is being held to demand the withdrawal of the '10-minute delivery' system that puts the lives of workers at risk, along with the demands of a transparent wage structure, and provision of social security benefits, including accident insurance and pension.
Some trade unions in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu have also expressed support for the strike. The unions said that delivery workers will log out of apps or reduce their services on December 31.
However, the companies concerned have not yet made an official response to the strike.
Although the Karnataka government has brought a social security law for gig workers, it has not yet been implemented. The trade unions have demanded that the central and state governments urgently intervene to regulate gig platforms, saying that gig workers are in dire straits due to low income and excessive workload. The strike, which coincides with the New Year celebrations, is likely to have a significant impact on the general public.