The delivery applications experienced a 2018 with bittersweet flavor. The year started with the massiveness of these services, which received rapid acceptance by users. But it ends with the creation of a union that complains about the job insecurity of the delivery workers.
Although PedidosYa had started offering meals at home before, the market exploded with the appearance of the Colombian Rappi and the Spanish Glovo. Soon, the city of Buenos Aires was filled with cyclists and motorcyclists carrying orange and yellow boxes, respectively.
The cause of this phenomenon has two edges. On the one hand, users see as a great advantage the possibility of requesting any menu to the restaurant preferably even if it does not have delivery. On the other hand, some gastronomic establishments - among them, hamburger chains and pizzerias - preferred to dispense with their employees to outsource the shipments with the emergence of these platforms.
But the benefits, apparently, did not reach the rappitenderos or glovers -name of fantasy to name the delivery people-, who grouped themselves and formed the Platform Personnel Association (APP), a guild that seeks the application of labor rights to who transport the deliveries to the homes.
In fact, the new union has already received the endorsement of the owner of the CGT, Hector Daer, and the owner of the CTA; Hugo Yasky. The leaders committed to intercede with the Government so that the organization receives formal recognition and can represent more than 100,000 workers.
The deliverymen also received a strong endorsement of the Justice. Days ago, Judge Roberto Gallardo made room for the precautionary measure requested by different companies so that the Transportation Secretariat of Buenos Aires ordered regulate Rappi and Glovo as signatures of urban courier and home delivery of food substances.
In this way, the two companies must present the declaration and rating of the drivers and the identifications of the vehicles they use. In as much, the distributors will be forced to take helmet homologado, clothing with reflective bands and appropriate for rains, boxes with system of isolation of the heat and sanitary libreta.
However, there is a deeper problem: the rappitenderos and glovers are monotributistas and the tariffs are set unilaterally by the companies. They work by piece and they charge $ 10,000 monthly on average.
This is the subject of questioning by trade unionists, who also stress that they do not have ART coverage. On the other side of the counter, they argue that the latter is like this because they do not perform in a dependency relationship.Cross accusations"The only thing we ask is that they be monotributistas," says Lucas Asad, leader of Expansion of Rappi Argentina. According to the manager, the company pays all taxes and invoices in the country.
On the other hand, he affirms that the delivery workers are "independent workers", who choose when and how much to work: between one or eight hours per day.
"Technology advances faster than legislation and that's why we are asking for a 21st century regulation," he adds.
But, on the side of platform workers, the claim is more structural. So much so that Daer has already received the distributors at the health center to seek a collective agreement that offers them more benefits and a more "traditional" regulatory framework.
Likewise, the new union has the backing of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which also met with union leaders, who expressed their complaints about the employment situation.
Since the guilds ensure that the "collaborative economy" is nothing more than a "fraud" to the Labor Contract Law and that hides a relationship of dependence to use "independent" employees.
In effect, the platforms emphasize that the dispatchers can choose their own schedule and be their own bosses. But they do not enjoy days due to illness, presentism, night work or extra hours.
Obviously, what is at stake is the regulation of this market. Although from Rappi they ask for a legislation more in agreement with the times that run, the certain thing is that it is a subject that today has a unanimous vision in the world-wide norm.
"There are countries whose Justice recognizes that there is a relationship of employment and subordination with the owner of the platform and others where it is considered that they are self-employed economically dependent and / or entrepreneurs and the platform only deals with supply and demand", explains the consultant of companies Héctor García, of the homonymous study.Looking for another side
Beyond the conflict with the workers, both Rappi and Glovo analyze how to expand their business in the region.
In the case of the Colombian firm, announced the arrival of RappiPay, as advanced iProUP. Integrated into the delivery platform, this new service is based on "credits" that are loaded with debit cards and other third-party tools.
In this way, it seeks to venture into the fintech market, one of the sectors that shows the highest growth in Argentina.
"This does not change Rappi's model, but we are exploring new ways to add value to users," says Natalia Russo, Rappi's Strategic Partnerships Leader, to iProUP. And it confirms that this functionality will be "the big bet" of the company for 2019.Just as Rappi is committed to diversification, Glovo is focusing on vertical integration to offer digital services based on mobility.
The firm is part of the Spanish holding Maxi Mobility, which has among its portfolio other companies of the "collaborative economy": EasyTaxi, which connects taxi drivers with customers; Cabify, a rival of Uber that is allowed in the city of Buenos Aires; and Movo, a rental startup for electric scooters.
In this regard, the company raised US $ 160 million in a round of financing involving Rakuten Capital, TheVentureCity, Endeavor Catalyst, GAT Investments, Liil Ventures and WTI, among others.
The purpose of the funds was to accelerate the expansion in Latin America and Spain, which could already be seen in the region. Chile is already one of the countries in the region where these services are being integrated within the same Cabify platform, which already has more than 3 million active users in the trans-Andean country.
The next step could be Argentina, but the union resistance promises not to give up until the delivery workers also benefit from the collaborative economy.