Failing Our Partners: On Gig Workers Strike

Gig workers in huge amount across the nation went on strike at New Year’s Eve, expressing unrest regarding pay and absence of social security.

The Gig worker strike this New Year’s Eve did not come out of nowhere. It had been building quietly. When delivery workers across cities chose to log out together, especially on a day when convenience is most demanded, it was not disruption for attention. It was exhaustion speaking.

India’s gig economy runs on words like delivery “partner”, flexibility and choice. However, in practice, the workers describe something else. Long hours without guaranteed income. Pay scale that changes without explanation. A single low rating or a delayed delivery can lead to instant deactivation, without any hearing or appeal.

Gig workers are merely asking for recognition. To be treated as workers and not disposable service providers. They demand transparent incentives and social security. These aren’t radical asks, and nothing more than what was promised in India’s own Social Security Code, 2020.

One major point of anger is the push for ultra-fast deliveries. Ten-minute timelines may look efficient on an app, but on the road they translate into risk. Speed becomes survival and safety becomes optional. The cost of convenience is quietly transferred to the rider.

What the strike revealed is not hostility towards work, but a demand for dignity. People are not rejecting platforms. They are questioning the terms.An enormous network of more than 8 million gig workers, still being unorganised, raises serious economic and social concerns. This must be addressed and recognised soon on large scale through government policies