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Food and grocery delivery platforms Zomato and Blinkit claimed they saw record-high deliveries on New Year’s Eve, despite a nationwide gig workers’ strike. Shaik Salahuddin, who heads the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), told TNM that the strike was successful, alleging that platforms used their “money and muscle” to try and thwart it. Other unions have also dismissed the platforms’ claims as a blatant lie.
The striking workers had demanded basic rights, a fairer process of payment and a ban on 10-minute deliveries.
Dismissing protesting workers as “miscreants”, Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal thanked law enforcement for enabling deliveries in a social media note. “Support from local law enforcement helped keep the small number of miscreants in check, enabling 4.5 lakh+ delivery partners across both platforms to deliver more than 75 lakh orders (all-time high) to over 63 lakh customers during the day,” Goyal posted on social media platform X , on January 1.
Goyal’s statement confirmed allegations by various unions that the aggregators had used the police to weaken the protest and force delivery personnel to work.
Expressing gratitude for the gig workers holding up both companies, he further wrote, “Most importantly, thank you to our delivery partners who showed up despite intimidation, stood their ground, and chose honest work and progress.”
In an obvious jab at the associations and unions leading the protest, Goyal said, “If a system were fundamentally unfair, it would not consistently attract and retain so many people who choose to work within it.” The CEO took this stand despite multiple studies showing that most people turn to gig work out of necessity, driven by a lack of stable job opportunities.
Referring to the strike as a move by “vested interests”, he went on to defend the gig economy model, “The gig economy is one of India’s largest organised job creation engines, and its real impact will compound over time.”
Goyal’s statements were supported by online commentators who ridiculed the strike as a move pushed by fringe elements.
Criticising the demand for a minimum guarantee of Rs 40,000 a month, several users claimed that the standard earnings of Zomato customers are much lower than the workers’ demands.
Others said such critiques reflect a lack of awareness among sections of the Indian working class, who mock striking workers instead of recognising that their own working conditions are unfair and unhealthy.
Many gig workers are forced to work without access to elevators and toilets in their working and public spaces, social security, fair wages, grievance redressal systems, and more – all for an infinitesimally mediocre salary.
Salahuddin told TNM that by December 31 evening, certain platforms announced increased incentives for a day, creating confusion among protestors. “People thought these were permanent incentives and were saying in our groups that the strike was successful. These were incentives for just a day. The reality is that none of these aggregators wants to sit across a table and have discussions. All we are asking for is dignity,” he said.
Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) president Seema Singh countered the stance of aggregators in a press release the same day. Bringing up the role of police in pressuring delivery executives to work, she wrote, “Last night, they pulled dirty tricks, late calls claiming ‘talks with law enforcement’, pushing workers to take orders by force, and sending local police to break up our peaceful protests.”
Seema referred to the aggregators’ aggression as a “clear intimidation and threat against our union work and right to resist.”
Calling reports of record high deliveries a “lie and slap in the face”, she further wrote, “Platforms bragging about their ‘busiest night ever with high order traffic’.. Apps crashed and broke down because so many workers uninstalled them and flat - out refused jobs. Orders piled up with no one to deliver. Companies make a mockery of our brave stand, laughing while we bleed for their millions in profits.”
Addressing the lack of government redressal for striking workers, she said, “It was expected that companies would engage in dialogue with unions and workers; however, the government’s silence has emboldened companies to openly practice exploitation and oppression.”
The statement concluded with a promise to continue the fight until demands like basic pay of Rs 20 per delivery, 8-hour workdays, safe working conditions, social securities, and recognition as ‘workers’ rather than ‘partners’ are fulfilled.