Associations representing gig workers in India have called for an all-India strike on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve—two of the busiest days of the year for the likes of Swiggy, Zomato and Blinkit—over what they claimed were worsening working conditions and reduced commissions.
“Despite being backbone of last-mile delivery—especially during peak seasons and festivals—delivery workers are forced to endure long working hours…in the absence of basic welfare protections,” the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union said in a statement posted on their Facebook profile.
Their key demands are:
- The immediate withdrawal of unsafe “10-minute delivery” business model that endanger workers’ lives.
- Fair and better pay through transparent wage structures and incentives reflecting real working hours and costs.
- Assured and consistent work allocation without algorithmic discrimination, while ensuring reasonable working hours.
- Job security and social security, including health cover, accident insurance, and pension benefits, etc.
- Stronger technical support for grievance redressal, and end to arbitrary ID blocking and penalty without due process.
“Delivery workers are being pushed to breaking point by unsafe work models, falling incomes, and total absence of social protection,” Shaik Salauddin, the national general secretary of the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, said in the statement.
“The gig workers strike is a collective call for justice, dignity and accountability. The government can no longer remain a silent spectator while platform companies profit at the cost of workers’ lives.”