Since 2018, John Jay Chan has been working as a food delivery rider under Lalamove, Foodpanda, and Grab. Despite the long hours and high risks, working for multiple platforms at once is common for many riders due to meager take-home pay.

Chan is the spokesperson of the National Union of Food Delivery Riders (Riders-Sentro), which waged a strike in October 2023 against lowered fares resulting in decreased earnings and unfair work arrangements of Grab Food Corporation. Its Cebu chapter also filed a case against Grab at the National Labor Relations Commission on April 4 for similar reasons. 

Companies like Grab and Foodpanda see their delivery riders not as employees but as “partners” with no direct employment relationship. In doing so, these firms deprive riders of safe working conditions, just wages, and job security.

Driven by Need

The COVID-19 lockdowns led to an exponential increase in demand for online delivery platforms. An income supposedly higher than minimum wage and a more flexible work schedule attract many to become delivery riders.

Many riders work beyond 40 hours a week, with some working for seven days a week and nine hours a day. Riders’ incomes are subject to chance. There are times when the number of delivery orders is lower than usual. To make up for this, many riders work beyond their already long hours, sometimes reaching 16 hours a day, Chan said.

Delivery riders in the Philippines number around 85,000, earning a compensation below minimum wage with a take-home pay of P460, according to a 2022 report by the Oxford Internet Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center’s research project Fairwork. Riders pay for operational costs such as fuel, maintenance, and internet. Even equipment such as thermal bags and uniforms are shouldered by the riders, with costs reaching P2,000.

“The end result is the rider or driver being chained to platform labor for survival, working longer and harder hours to make a living,” a statement from Fairwork reads.

Riders’ income is also at risk of being further reduced by medical costs should they get into an accident. In 2022, there were 31,124 reported motorcycle-related accidents recorded by the Metro Manila Development Authority. Without a comprehensive insurance policy, riders receive only a medical reimbursement after the medical costs are already paid by the rider, Chan said. This also fails to account for the income lost while recovering.

For the riders, the lack of employment recognition underlies their low compensation and other unjust working arrangements. 

Employment in Limbo

Grab refers to their delivery riders as “partners” instead of employees. Similar arrangements are made on other online delivery platforms that refer to their riders as independent contractors or freelance businesses.

“Pagdating sa ganitong sistema ng mga platform companies, wala ka nang security of tenure, wala ka nang 8 hours, wala ka nang benefits, wala ka nang leaves, wala na lahat yun,” Chan said.

Food delivery riders are part of the gig economy, based on short-term and freelance work like those provided by online platforms to contract out a certain service. Since riders lack formal recognition as employees, platforms deny the responsibility to give them basic employment rights such as job security, state-mandated social benefits, and union representation.

Without security of tenure, delivery riders are subject to arbitrary terminations. In December 2022, Grab terminated the accounts of two of their riders, citing “violations of terms of service” in response to delivery riders attending a mobilization to protest their inhumane labor conditions. 

Online delivery platforms also refuse to recognize unions like Riders-Sentro and prefer to conduct separate closed-door meetings with select riders. Since chosen representatives are not present, this arrangement decreases a union’s bargaining power in negotiations. Such relations not only subject riders to unfair working conditions, but also deprive them of the means to contest those arrangements.

“The contracting arrangement prevalent in the platform economy simultaneously takes advantage of and exacerbates workers’ vulnerability and dependency,” according to the Fairwork report.

Road to Recognition

Among the basic demands of Riders-Sentro is the right to representation, a precondition for which is their formal recognition as employees.

The Department of Labor and Employment recognizes in their 2021 labor advisory that delivery riders may have an employment relationship with their platforms based on economic realities such as hiring, wage pay, power of dismissal, and control over the employee’s work. In a 2023 ruling that ordered Lazada to reinstate its illegally dismissed riders, the Supreme Court recognized that an employer-employee relationship exists between the platform and its riders based on economic realities and dependence, even when the contract stipulates otherwise. 

However, without strong legislation backing delivery riders, platforms will continue to refuse to recognize the riders’ status as employees, said Chan. Senate Bill No. 1373 proposed in 2022 by Sen. Risa Hontiveros is an attempt to classify riders as employees, but is still pending at the committee level. This bill includes provisions for equitable compensation, social protection programs, and the right to organize.Riders-Sentro acknowledges that even though gaining recognition as employees is only the first step, it is a vital one toward ensuring that the delivery riders who bring food to our doorsteps also bring enough back home for their families. ●