In the context of the Decent Work Agenda, the government wants to change specific points of labor legislation, including the relationship between couriers and digital platforms, such as Uber Eats, Bolt Food or Glovo. Part of the courier universe wants more labor protection – for example direct connections between couriers and platforms – but now the Courier Movement has emerged, advocating the opposite. It rejects the attribution of employer responsibilities to digital platforms and has already provided Parliament with a document signed by more than 1400 couriers expressing this. “We defend the current business model because, in professional and personal terms, it’s the best way of working, because we have the benefits of defining our work plan without having to report to an employer or be required to do a particular job. amount of work to be performed … hours or the obligation to fulfill a certain number of deliveries,” reads the contribution sent to the Assembly of the Republic for the discussion of the proposed Law 15/XV/1.
Speaking to DN/Dinheiro Vivo, Plínio Germano Santos, the main promoter of the relay movement, which today has nearly 1,600 members, says that the current working model of the messengers is “much nicer”.
Plínio Santos says he started working as a courier in October 2018, but today he already has a company that acts as an intermediary between couriers and digital platforms. He says he still works as a courier, but mostly he’s a fleet manager (name given to this type of company), which has 650 couriers in dozens of cities from north to south of the country.
The relay movement, he emphasizes, arose “spontaneously”, without being associated with unions or parties, as they talk about the class “without knowing the reality”. In the movement there is “unanimity” to oppose a revision of the law. Therefore, the belief is that most couriers “have an interest in things staying as they are”.
“Flexibility” is the key word and, emphasizes Plínio Santos, the couriers “want to remain independent workers, autonomous from the platforms”.
Asked about the current working conditions of these workers, the main face of the Relay Movement says: “Before the pandemic, many had a main job and being a courier was a supplement, but during the pandemic, people began to find the only income in the activity of courier.” . “There are fewer and fewer couriers as supplements,” he says.
Autonomy is priority
Doesn’t this reinforce the need for more employment protection? Plínio Santos believes that not, justifying itself with the freedom of time, the ability to each “set a target of income per week and, when the value is reached, use the other days to do other things”. He states that an eight-hour courier service “can easily exceed 250 euros” [livres de impostos] weekly.” He also explains that income depends on the city where they work, arguing that those who work longer do so “because they have a more pressing need”. “Of course this is not the rule,” he defends.
Plínio Santos shares with DN/DV the numbers of four couriers of the movement, between August 29 and September 5. There were people who worked 68 and a half hours to get 417.06 euros. In another case, the courier redeemed 396.90 euros in more than 94 hours. Another got 486.48 euros in 99 hours. In a fourth case, a courier earned 719.18 euros in 101 hours.
However, the relay movement still has no numbers to support the belief that the majority is against tampering with the law, but it is working on it. It will create a website and there are actions to be considered for the movement to reach public opinion. It also wants to set up a database on the universe of couriers working for platforms in Portugal.
The group’s promoter says an online survey is underway with the couriers to understand who is against and who is for it. He says whoever organized this research is in favor of employer obligations for the platforms, but guarantees that this option does not collect supporters. This official does not yet know the final figures, but the document sent to parliament states that more than 63% of the couriers are against the existence of employment contracts with the platforms.
In May, an ISCTE survey indicated that more than half of couriers disagreed with stricter regulation of platforms, with 87% favoring the freelance regime. And, contrary to what the leader of the movement says, only 10% was devoted exclusively to the activity.
On the other side of the Relay Movement barricade are parties like BE and PCP and CGTP unions, which are in favor of legislative changes and greater labor protections for couriers. Since the beginning of the year, actions have been called (including a strike in April, in Porto) in favor of more obligations for the platforms.
For now, the relay movement is focused on focusing efforts on stopping changes in the law. But according to Plínio Santos, there are also claims to the platforms: they want more comprehensive protection in accident insurance, a physical service desk and more direct communication channels with companies.
There has already been a meeting in the parliamentary labor committee to define the methodology for discussing the decent work agenda.
Source: DN
