E9: A Test of Employment

Generally speaking, in industrial or workplace disputes, the strike is a weapon of last resort and is used by workers to persuade the employer to accept their demands. On July 21, 2022, when a group of delivery workers stopped work in Bangalore, like some other gig work protests and strikes that we have observed in previous episodes of this podcast, the strike was not the weapon of last resort but simply a signal to commence negotiations. These workers delivering through Swiggy’s Instamart app wanted to be able to finish their work within the agreed upon shift timings but found themselves having to work up to fourteen hours every day. They had opinions on the conditions of their work, and felt that if they wanted to be heard, they had to go on strike. So far, in their struggle against their arbitrary suspensions from these apps, and for fair pay, reasonable working hours, holidays, and social security, India’s platform workers have not been able to use India’s mid-twentieth-century labour laws. For the All India Gig Workers Union, the CITU-affiliated federation that supported the July 2022 strikes, the strategy now is to have full-time workers recognised as employees of a platform. These strikes took place during the same month that The Guardian began publishing a series of reports into the files leaked from Uber by a whistleblower documenting the company’s unethical practices, including as they lobbied for favourable labour regulations. Bit by bit, sector by sector and state by state, AIGWU’s activists are helping platform workers pry open the gates to this legal infrastructure. It is precisely what platforms have been resisting around the world.