The new jobs based on platforms mark another conflictive chapter in its short - though intense - history in Argentina. This time, Rappi and Glovo were not the protagonists, but the third in discord: PedidosYa.
The company unlinked 450 of the little more than 1,000 delivery people who are part of its payroll. But it is only the tip of the iceberg of a larger conflict, which also involves businesses and the Government.
In the sector, they point out that it was "something that could be seen coming", since she was the "only one who had done things right", in reference to the fact that she had the couriers hired in a dependency relationship, while her two rivals appealed to independent workers enrolled in the Monotributo.
Before the query of iProUP, the firm says that the mass layoffs were to "improve the quality of their service", so "made a reorganization in the team of its business unit specialized in logistics services: RepartosYa".
"This is a restructuring that led to the disassociation of 401 jobs, due to the failure of the tasks of certain delivery drivers and, in addition, an adaptation to demand flows of orders in the City of Buenos Aires," they complete.
It affects the weakest link in the chain: those who distribute the orders. As a sample, the company indicates that it aims to "generate an improvement in the service experience for both consumers and restaurants."
But the splinters of the conflict reedit the discussion on labor flexibilization and the new business models offered by technology. Undoubtedly, this is a pivotal moment in terms of the local approach to the "economy of apps".
Legal issues
Beyond the official word of the company, from the legal point of view, what happened is part of an ordering strategy to migrate towards the business model of its competitors.
"What is happening is that they are adapting the contracts: they are going to go from white to black, they have a dependency relationship with a lot of the distributors and they are going to hire them as self-employed, which is much cheaper," he tells iProUP the lawyer Juan Carlos Cerutti, who follows the subject closely and advises firms and employees of the gastronomic industry.
"The workers will receive their compensation for dismissal, if they receive it, we will have to see if they have an extra for the salary difference between the collective agreement that is applied and the place where they work. of a restaurant, the best agreement is that of Commerce ", remarks the lawyer.
In the same vein, the labor lawyer Horacio Schick describes the online delivery business as an "intermediation between a trade and the application (which appears as a contractor) that does not conform to the Labor Contract Law (LCT). of a task that was previously taken care of by the one who provided the service ".
In as much, from the Association of Labor Lawyers (AAL) they assure that certain questions of this market allow to observe "own characteristics of the independent worker", to know:
- They provide part of the means of production (vehicles, for example)
- The discretionary choice of the time in which they perform the tasks of distribution
- An important degree of independence in the way of providing the service
However, in the entity clarify that there are other items that should be considered that, "by their weight and relevance", locate the delivery drivers closer to the typical "dependent" scheme.
"In the first place, the service provider joins an outside organization, the platform that mandates mandatory compliance standards, against which the worker has only one option: to comply with them or not to work," they explain.
In second term, they emphasize that when the delivery person makes of this task his habitual activity "is undoubted that it will maintain with the company organizer of the service a remarkable degree of economic dependence".
At this point, they emphasize that the platforms monitor the delivery people "through the evaluations they request from customers, an undoubtedly useful and low-cost way to control".
To all this, we must add that they do not meet a fixed schedule. "They work well above the legal limits to achieve a decent income," says Juan Manuel Ottaviano, labor lawyer and legal counsel for the platform staff union.
According to Shick, the forms of "recruitment" of the apps are part of a global trend that was included in the Labor Reform project presented by the Government, where "para-subordinates" are contemplated. Under this figure, it is tried to offer "certain status of labor protection but without stability", indicates the lawyer.
In this way, the workers would remain autonomous, but they would have certain benefits, such as vacations or social work, although the employment relationship could be discontinued without the payment of compensation.
"Companies believe they are covered if the employee accepts to invoice, but this contradicts all labor law, which establishes that these agreements are not valid because what governs is the Labor Contract Law (LCT), regardless of the form adopt, "he adds.
In this framework, the experts consulted make reference to a "before and after" in the delivery market.
First, because there will be a large number of class actions that will not only affect PedidosYa, but also its competitors. Second, because the Justice has sufficient support to rule that the trade is jointly and severally liable in case of litigation or an accident on public roads.
Solidarity responsibility
While all the criticism of the workers is directed towards the platforms companies, the points of sale can also be denounced.
According to Cerutti, "distributors will be able to sue both PedidosYa and the trade with which they used to work regularly", since they usually spend a large part of their working time in these stores.
Schick agrees that "these establishments are jointly and severally liable, according to Article 30 of the Labor Contract Law, because home deliveries are an activity specific to the point of sale and this service far from being something casual or extraordinary."
The lawyer emphasizes that although the establishments can make the distributions through third parties, "this does not mean that they are not responsible in case of a lawsuit initiated by a delivery person" or in the event of an accident while they are performing the service.
From the perspective of Justice, "we are talking about an association between applications and restaurants that does not comply with current regulations," emphasizes Schick.
On the other hand, Cerutti stresses that this responsibility is not only related to the payment of employer contributions, but that both businesses and applications must respond in solidarity in the face of an accident suffered by delivery people.
"Solidarity applies to salaries, that is, compensation, salary and fines for unregistered employment, and for union debts, social work, contributions and contributions, including those arising from work accidents," he explains to iProUP.
As an example, the lawyer cites a recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of a construction worker who died of a landslide in a construction site for the Automobile Club Argentino (ACA). The highest court established as responsible both the ACA and who this company hired for the spare parts.
What comes
The experts consulted agree that the authorities should be very attentive to this conflict, given the irregularities that the "economy of the platforms" presents with respect to the current labor legislation.
On this point, Cerutti points out that the Platform Personnel Association (APP) that brings together the cadets of these online services, had notified PedidosYa the call for elections of union delegates at the firm.
"The company chose to disassociate the employees who were running as candidates, which is a serious fault, in which I believe the Labor Ministry should intervene, because it would be a matter of union discrimination," Cerutti says.
The dismissal of union representatives is not a novelty in the sector. Ottaviano denounced a few weeks ago that "the company for which the majority of the members of the board of directors worked decided to lay them off," which is why the lawsuits began.
On the other hand, Cerutti also emphasizes that there is a "legal institutional" problem due to the large number of dismissed employees.
"When dismissing more than 5% of the plant, a crisis preventive procedure must be initiated, the discriminated ones reincorporated (candidates for delegates) and assume the payment of severance payments," he explains to iProUP.
Schik agrees on this point and adds: "These companies are unaware of the employment relationship, everything is irregular in this market, it is an unregistered work". And it also expects the Executive to intervene so that the unemployed are reinstated and the situation of workers in the sector normalized.
"There is a significant drop in employment, the Government should intervene, but there is not even a Ministry, but a secretary," he concludes.
The model of competition
Everything indicates that the Maneuver of PedidosYa aims to achieve greater profitability by imitating the scheme of its competitors.
Both Glovo and Rappi pay distributors only for each order that reaches the customer (they do not offer a basic salary) and requires them to be enrolled in the Monotributo to bill the services provided.
It is a round business: for each trip, around 50 pesos are generated, although this can increase in times of high demand or before a storm. Of that total, 80% ($ 40) remains for the cadet and the remaining 20% is absorbed by the company as a commission.
As iProUP informed, if the customer pays with a credit card, the app keeps its share and transfers the rest to the worker's account. If you use cash, it is the distributor who must deposit the commission (through RapiPago or Easy Payment) or it will be deducted from your remuneration, which is settled every 15 days.
Despite the controversy, the online delivery market continues to grow in Argentina, as illustrated by the following figures:
- PedidosYa has more than 9,500 associated shops, of which 40% use its delivery service
- Glovo and Rappi register more than 500,000 orders per month each
- The market grows at a rate of 25% per month
- Rappi has a network of 200,000 associated businesses
- Glovo has more than 700 affiliated businesses and close to 10,000 registered glovers.
The following infographic gives an account of the delivery business and of the resolution in other countries in labor matters:
Matías Casoy, general manager of Rappi Argentina, tells iProUP, that the company "is an open platform that connects a user who wants to buy, a business that wants to sell and a distributor that wants to distribute. drink".
He points out that the only profitability that Rappi has is the commission to the stores.
In the same direction, Matías Gath, Glovo's country manager, says: "We are a platform that connects consumers with businesses, to whom we charge a commission for that sale that we generate."
"With the 'glovers' we have a user-platform relationship, they are independent, they choose if they connect or not, if they accept an order or not, if they want to work on a rainy day or not," he adds.
The economy of apps faces a crucial moment. For some labor lawyers, the businesses that use these delivery services provided by third parties have a contingent liability.
That is to say, at any time they can suffer a judicial setback due to joint and several liability, in the case of an accident on public roads or a labor lawsuit filed by those who provide the delivery service.
