Gig workers call nationwide strike today; why they are protesting and which services will be hit
Gig workers for Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, and other platforms are striking nationwide on December 31, threatening New Year's Eve delivery disruptions. Unions demand fairer pay, better benefits, and improved working conditions, citing shrinking earnings and lack of security. This collective action aims to highlight worker challenges, potentially causing major service delays and cancellations across Indian cities.
New Delhi: Gig workers from Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, Amazon, and Flipkart have gone on a nationwide strike today. This will cause major disruptions in New Year's Eve celebrations.
Delivery partners working with these platforms will log off their apps or scale back operations, sparking concerns about potential delays, order cancellations and service disruptions.
The Gig & Platform Services Workers Union (GIPSWU) has asked its members to stay off the apps through which they receive assignments from the platforms they are affiliated with.
Participation is expected from more than one lakh workers across major metro cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad as well as several tier-2 cities.
Why has the strike been called?
The strike has been jointly called by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT).
The workers are demanding a ban on 10-minute deliveries, fair and transparent wages, social security, among others. The workers carried out a similar strike on Christmas Day.
The unions contend that delivery partners —-- often described as the backbone of India’s digital commerce ecosystem --—are being forced to work longer hours for shrinking earnings, with little assurance of safety, dignity, insurance or job security. The unions claim that platform companies have done little to address workers’ concerns, allowing conditions to deteriorate further.
The union leaders have pointed out that the protest is not intended to inconvenience customers, but to draw attention to the challenges faced by gig workers. They have requested platform companies to engage in meaningful dialogue and introduce fairer pay structures, social security benefits and transparent policies.
Which cities will be majorly hit?
The TGPWU and IFAT are being backed by several regional collectives across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi-NCR, West Bengal and parts of Tamil Nadu.
Customers in major cities, including Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Kolkata, are likely to face extended wait times, order cancellations and reduced delivery availability through the day. The impact may also extend to several tier-2 cities as regional collectives join the stir.
Which services will be affected?
Widespread participation in the strike could derail last-mile delivery services, paralysing restaurants, grocery platforms and retailers that depend heavily on app-based logistics to achieve their revenue targets. The strike could disrupt food, grocery and e-commerce deliveries on New Year’s Eve.