The reform of the Federal Labor Law (LFT) regarding digital platforms, which has been pending since last year, must be finalized. In Mexico, more than half a million driving and delivery workers do not have labor rights nor have their employment relationships been recognized for 10 years. They are invisible.
Furthermore, legislation must be legislated with a gender perspective, since 10 percent of the workers on these platforms are women and are at a greater disadvantage, demanded Kruskaya Hidalgo, Organization specialist at the Solidarity Center.
In an interview, she emphasized that it is the demand for women delivery and driving workers, because in Mexico and Latin America and not only, these digital platforms implement a model of work deregulation, financial and market deregulation.
And this is repeated in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, where digital workers do not have labor rights or recognition of the employment relationship, which puts this group of workers in great vulnerability.
That is to say, the employment relationship is not recognized on digital platforms that register high million-dollar sums each year in various parts of the world; but they do not recognize their workers, they do not sign an employment contract and therefore they do not have social security or any legal benefits, he told El Sol de México.
These are the ones that are well known throughout society: Uber, Didi, Cabify, Globo, etc., and they all operate a very similar market system that does not recognize their employment relationship with their delivery people and drivers. “Just last week Uber celebrated 10 years of presence in Mexico,” he said.
In April of this year, a study of working conditions of Digital Platforms in Mexico was carried out. And in the International Forum “Raise your voice. Digital work and gender towards a global agenda”, this women’s meeting sought to make visible the impact that this economic model has.
Women with leadership in their unions were invited and it is no small thing in a sector as masculinized as delivery and driving that they are women who lead the fight for regularization in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and other countries, he said.
In this masculinized world, what place do women occupy?
-Women occupy more or less 10% in the delivery sector, in some countries up to 13%. This is how it fluctuates in Latin America. However, in a context of absence of labor rights, of job insecurity, women are even more vulnerable due to the patriarchal and sexist structure of the countries and also due to gender issues, she responded to El Sol de México.
For example, women do not have maternity leave, much less breastfeeding leave, or social security. With no protection they face risks at work, such as traffic accidents.
And if they are pregnant, the vulnerability is even greater. On the other hand, digital platforms block the profiles of women who are pregnant. And blocking a profile means that they discriminate against you based on your gender and do not respect the right to motherhood as contemplated in International Conventions such as those of the ILO.
In this situation, what does the Solidarity Center do?
-The Solidarity Center supports unions and alliances of union centers. This meeting from Saturday, October 21 to 24, is not minor, since it served for women from 7 countries to generate 5 gender keys, they approved 5 points that must be included:
No discrimination, harassment or violence and for social security and health. But apart from that, they identified a roadmap on specific demands to both the ILO and the large corporations that lead these platforms.
In a decade they quintupled
The ILO representative at this International Forum, Paz Arancibia, senior regional gender and non-discrimination specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that in 10 years, platform workers increased fivefold in the world.
According to the ILO there are 124 million. And according to the World Bank there are 400 million working people in this modality, so this international organization will have global regulations by 2026.
He explained what processes are coming up in the United Nations and how to get involved in those debates.
Did they sign anything?
-The colleagues of the Meeting are in negotiations so that their Trade Union Centers can ratify them and thus these 5 key points can have the support not only of the local unions but also of the trade union centers of their countries.
This will take a month and at the end of November we will have all of this list of requests with the support of the union centers of each country.
It was valuable to generate this space. “For workers on digital platforms, the recognition of their labor rights is of utmost importance, that is, that they are workers, because no regulation in Mexico or in the world that does not recognize that they are workers has their rights guaranteed.
Do they seem to be invisible?
-Exactly and it is worrying because the ILO delegate told us that there are 124 million digital platform workers in the world and the World Bank considers 400 million. And according to official data in Mexico in 2021 there were half a million driving and delivery workers.
However, we know that this number is higher and this number only includes driving and delivery, not counting the entire world of applications, their number is higher.
The Mexican State must be committed to regulating the rights of this activity
Kruskaya Hidalgo recalled that they have been working as a Solidarity Center for 3, 4 years and supporting digital work in Mexico and Latin America.
On October 24, in Mexico, Uber turned 10 years old. She announced it on her social networks; But he never came forward to talk in all the times he was invited to forums, and he has been working in Mexico for 10 years without recognizing the labor rights of his workers.
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In Mexico, 10 percent of digital platform workers are women. This must be made visible.
2023-11-01 17:10:19
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