Page 20 - Voice and representation of platform driver in VietNam
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14   CHAPTER 3: Loyalty, exit or voice? Platform workers’ organising strategies






                                            Number of
                  Time of
             No.               Platform     drivers on      Causes of strikes                 Outcomes
                  strike
                                            strike
                                                            The profit-sharing formula is set high.
                                                            The new bonus system makes it harder
                                                                     Figure 9: How does the platform company respond
             9    17-08-2020   Be           A hundred       for riders to reach a bonus point. For   No change
                                                                          to your queries/grievances? (n=277)
                                                            instance: a rider must finish 40 trips to
                                                            reach the highest bonus point.
                                                          40.00           37.55
                                                          35.00 Decree 126/2020/ND-CP on VAT for
                                                            technology-based transportation
                                                          30.00
             10                Grab in                    25.00 companies (3-10 percent). Grab
                                                                 22.38
                                                            increased prices by 6 percent, resulting
                                                                                              No change
             &    7-9/12/2020  Hanoi and    A few thousands 20.00 in higher extraction rates for drivers   18.41  18.05
             11                HCMC
                                                          15.00 (28.3 to 32.8 percent) and riders (23.6
                                                            to 28.3 percent) leaving the remaining
                                                          10.00
                                                            burden on drivers/riders.
                                                          5.00                      3.61
                                                          0.00                                Be stopped the
                                                               No response  Only respond upon  Threats to drivers   Immediate and   Unsatisfactory
                                                                                              new bonus  response
                                                                                  who voice up
                                                                        collective actions
                  11-                                       Be reduced the bonus rate by 30   thorough
                                                                                              programme and
             12                Be Hanoi     A few hundreds                                  response
                  13/12/2020                                percent without informing its riders.
                                                                                              adopted the
                                                                                              previous one.
            In Vietnam, since 2014, there have been reportedly 13   Figure 10: How do you define your relationship with other
            strikes  by  ride-hailing  and  delivery  platform  workers   platform drivers? (%)
            (see Table 1). However, although the collective actions   Figure 10: How do you define your relationship with other platform drivers? (%)
            can force platform companies to hold serious dialogues   80.00  69.58  75.49  71.27
            with  the  drivers/riders,  they  were  not  effective  in   70.00                      61.13
            helping workers to improve their working conditions.   60.00
            Among  the  13  reported  strikes  between  2016  and   50.00
                                                              40.00
            2020, in only three cases (or 23 percent of the strikes)   30.00
            did the platforms concede and meet the requests of the   20.00
            drivers/riders.                                   10.00
                                                               0.00
                                                                    Independent  Colleagues  In the same boat,  Shared interests, need
            3.2. Building labour agency                                                supportive of one  to unite
                                                                                         another
            The most important difference between workers in the
            gig economy and those in the traditional sectors is their   The foundation for any labour network is the workers’
            isolation  from  other  co-workers.  Each  has  their  own   perception of shared interests (Herod 2001). The
            routes and works on different hours. While bike riders   surveyed drivers/riders have mixed perceptions of their
            can socialise when they gather around a pick-up area,   relationships  with  other  co-workers.  While  nearly  70
            car-drivers rarely meet up physically with other drivers. In   percent of drivers/riders believed they were independent
            traditional sectors, Vietnamese workers have managed   of one another, like freelancers, as much as 71 percent
            to  stage  collective  actions  because  they  can  mobilise   found they were in the same position and thus, should
            via networks built based on their employment, origins,   support one another. More importantly, 61.1 percent
            gender,  community  and  identity  of  class  (Tran  2014;   of platform drivers felt they shared the same interests
            Clarke  et  al.  2007).  This  survey  found  that  platform   and thus, should unite to protect their own rights and
            drivers and riders have also built their own networks,   interests (Figure 10).
            mostly online, to mobilise for collective action.
                                                              As  they  work  on  digital  platforms,  74.8  percent  of
                                                              drivers use online forums (on social media) to build their
                                                              networks. There are hundreds of social media groups
                                                              set  up  by  drivers  independently  with  membership
                                                              ranging from a few dozen to tens of thousands. The
                                                              groups  are  established  either  based  on  geographical







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