Riders group slams DOLE advisory on food delivery and courier work

The motorcycle riders’ rights group Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) criticized the recently released labor advisory by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on food delivery and courier work. “The DOLE is engaged in smoke and mirrors. It pretends to do something in the face of platform work disputes when it actually is not resolving anything by issuing a useless advisory,” argued Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general.

 

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello signed Labor Advisory 14 entitled “Working Conditions of Delivery Riders in Food Delivery and Courier Activities” on July 23 but it was posted on the DOLE website only last July 27.

 

“The DOLE avers in the advisory that food delivery riders are protected by labor law and their contracts. On the contrary, the advisory affirms what presently exists—that the majority if not almost all food delivery riders are considered independent contractors and thus at the mercy of opaque app policies and algorithms,” Pangan insisted.

 

He added that “The ongoing dispute of Foodpanda delivery riders in Davao emphasizes precisely this point—food delivery riders are not protected by labor law since they are deemed freelancers despite the app controlling the means and methods of how they work.”

 

Kagulong calls on the DOLE to immediately implement its commitment “To convene a Technical Working Group (TWG) represented by rider’s groups, trade unions, worker’s organizations and concerned government agencies to start the research and investigation that would lead to creating policy standards to protect the gig workers,” Pangan recalled. This commitment was the result of the pre-Labor Day summits called by the DOLE as part of drafting the National Economic Recovery Strategy.

 

Pangan also clarified that the labor dispute of the Davao Foodpanda riders remains unresolved as the company did not attend the mediation meeting called by the DOLE last Monday. The DOLE later admitted that Foodpanda refuses to attend tripartite meetings and will only meet riders on a bilateral basis.

 

“Pasaway ang Foodpanda. Divide and rule ang taktika nila. It clearly does not want to be covered by the labor law so that it can do anything that it pleases—like suspending riders for 10 years and reducing their pay unilaterally. In the face of this intransigence by Foodpanda, the DOLE lies prostrate even though it has the power to issue a Department Order to clarify and resolve such workplace grievances,” Pangan stated. 

Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong)

July 29, 2021