Amid the new year’s celebration, a nationwide strike called by the gig/platform workers is likely to raise the heat between the workers’ union and the authorities. The strike, which was called by the Gig and Platform Services Workers Union (GIPSWU) on December 25 has been extended till December 31
The union has reportedly submitted a memorandum to the Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya demanding immediate government intervention to address what it calls “systemic exclusion” and exploitation of gig workers under India’s labour framework.
In addition, the women-led union stated that the strike upholds the growing unrest across the platform workers’ economy, reported NDTV.
As per the report, the protest was developed based on last year’s digital strike and reflects the “platform economy’s dependence on workers’ labour”. The gig workers reportedly warned the authorities about the possible implications of the continuous neglect of the gig workers, while they get “exploited
The protest comes against the backdrop of the newly introduced reforms of the labour code, which heavily talk about the formalisation of labour in the gig economy, and define a part of them as ‘platform workers’.
Plus, the protest by the women-led unions also contradicts the government’s expression of women’s safety at workplaces, as noted in the new reforms.
