Why gig workers in India can’t unionise, despite poor working conditions?

“Back in the day when restaurants had their own delivery workers, they were given cycles — the delivery personnel had a personal relationship with the owner and their health and well-being were taken care of. Now, none of the claims of better life and better income that were once promised by these companies hold up”. Krishnamurthy feels that the companies have used the unemployment crisis to digitally enslave the workers.

“There was a time when Swiggy gave Rs 75 per delivery in 2016-17 when there was a blood infusion of VC money. Back then, the workers did not mind paying for their own vehicles and the fuel. They willingly subsidised a part of the operations. Now, the rates have gone down and workers cannot afford to do that any more. Pick up a worker and ask them if they will still do this job if they have any other option. The answer will be ‘no’”.

It’s all about the data

“If I am an Urban Company employee, I am assigned a job, let’s say, to fix an AC. If the slot is 1.5-hours-long, my working hours will be 1.5 hours only — the app doesn’t take into account the time taken to visit the customer’s house and the time spent waiting for a task to be assigned,” she adds. Krishnamurthy also raises a pertinent point about the women gig workers, many of whom work with Urban Company. “If a female gig worker has to go on maternity leave, she will have to switch off her app, and six or nine months later, rejoin. For rejoining, one has to pay rejoining fees to Urban Company. So, female gig workers are helping apps make money and also paying them extra to give them jobs”. Krishnamurthy argues that app-based platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Zepto, Uber, Urban Company — all have data on the nearest restaurants, delivery routes that has helped them build a robust algorithm over a period of time. “The digital intelligence that comes from the collective data of these workers is being put to use effectively”. The value is not in the transaction. The value is in the data, says Krishnamurthy.

India’s most powerful Uber driver

Miles away from Delhi, in Bengaluru, Shaik Salauddin works as the National General Secretary of Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers (IFAT). Several publications have called Salauddin the “most powerful Uber driver in India”. An Uber driver and a powerful union leader in his own right, Salauddin brushes shoulders with top politicians and policymakers — he organises strikes, heads Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and spearheads social change. He recently interacted with Rahul Gandhi and shared gig workers’ concerns with the leader during Bharat Jodo Yatra. In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Salauddin says, “KT Rama Rao, IT minister of Telangana, proposed a tripod model to us with the company, the government and the vendors as its three components. I countered him and suggested that he add unions instead of vendors or third-party app aggregators. We cannot let vendors represent us.”

When asked if there is one issue faced by the gig workers that he’d want to be resolved immediately, Salauddin says, “Kanoon banna chahiye (we need laws). If I am asked to summarise, our major demands are: a) Bring laws to protect gig workers; b) Form a social security board; c) Have a tripod mechanism with company, government and unions.”

Manoeuvring the legalities

In spite of tireless efforts by union workers to negotiate with the government, there cannot be much progress unless traditional labour laws are updated to include gig workers. “Since the number of working hours of gig workers is not fixed, they are not covered under Minimum Wages Act of 1948. Since there are no fixed hours, they cannot be paid for overtime either. If there is no fixed salary, there cannot be a fixed PF either,” says Rishabh Raj, advocate, Supreme Court of India.

Gaurav Goyal, managing partner, Goyel & Goyal, says, while gig workers are free to form unions, one cannot be sure if they are legally recognised. “One has to be recognised as an ‘employee’ first to be a part of the union”. Goyal says, as a country, it is not possible to update the entire legislation since the gig economy is new. He suggests that the government, platforms and gig workers work in consonance with each other to bring social change.

But what happens when there is a dispute between a gig worker and their employer? Do they have legal remedies available with them? Madhu Damodaran, group head — Legal, Quess Corp, a business service company, says, “Unfortunately, gig workers cannot go to labour courts to resolve disputes. They have to go to civil or criminal courts to protect their legal rights.” However, Goyal feels that chances of success in such cases are less because gig workers don’t have the ‘employee’ status. However, Damodaran says, giving gig workers the ‘employee’ status might take away some of their benefits like flexible working hours.

Meanwhile, Salauddin says, gig workers do not want to depend on any state or central government. “We want deduction of a fixed amount from every transaction that happens on these platforms. This amount will go towards the social welfare board of gig workers so they can bring new schemes to protect the workers.” Salauddin doesn’t wish to negotiate with the government for aid or schemes. He wants to put in place a system that directly benefits the gig workers.

Salauddin’s vision to have an autonomous gig workers union is an ambitious one. It remains to be seen if the negotiation between the unions and the government will lead to a fruitful result. Till then, exploitation of gig workers like Rahul will likely continue.