New Delhi: Gig and platform workers across India are gearing up for a nationwide protest on New Year’s Eve (December 31), demanding better working conditions, fair wages and an end to ultra-fast delivery targets that they say endanger their lives, according to unions representing the workers.
The strike, called jointly by the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) and the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union, will involve delivery executives, ride-hail drivers and home-service workers associated with major online platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon and Flipkart, among others, reported Hindustan Times.
This protest follows a similar strike on Christmas Day (December 25), which caused noticeable disruptions in parts of Gurugram, although the impact in Delhi and Noida was limited, according to earlier Hindustan Times reporting.
Key demands
The unions outlined six principal demands, including:
Immediate withdrawal of the “10-minute delivery” business model — a system that workers say pressures them into unsafe driving and puts their lives at risk.
Fair and transparent wage structures that reflect actual working hours and costs.
Assured and consistent work allocation without algorithmic discrimination and with reasonable working hours.
Job security and comprehensive social security benefits, including health coverage, accident insurance and pension support.
Stronger technical and grievance support, and an end to arbitrary penalties and account blocking without due process.
Improved safety measures and protections for workers on the job.
Unions have also called on both the Central and state governments to step in and regulate platform companies more effectively, enforce labour protections, and implement social security frameworks for gig and platform workers.
Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary of IFAT, said in a statement that “delivery workers are being pushed to breaking point by unsafe work models, falling incomes, and total absence of social protection.” The strike, he added, was a collective call “for justice, dignity and accountability.”
The protests come amid rising frustration among gig workers nationwide over long hours, declining earnings, unsafe delivery targets and arbitrary account deactivations, issues that workers say have not been adequately addressed despite repeated appeals to platform management.
