Public Note #22 – In support of app delivery workers

The Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns Commission for the Defense of Human Rights – the Arns Commission – goes public to express its solidarity with the movement of app delivery workers and denounces the unacceptable working conditions to which these professionals are subjected. They are the workers who, today, provide comfort, safety, and well-being to millions of Brazilians, due to COVID-19.

It is not as of today that the very precarious work relationships between delivery workers and apps have been pointed out, configuring an e-commerce sector that is growing by the eyes, led by well-known companies such as UberEats, iFood, and Rappi. The informality of these relationships is expressed not only in the low payment of delivery workers, but above all, in the non-recognition of any fundamental labor right, such as health care, paid weekly rest, life insurance, holiday entitlement, and thirteenth salary. It consists in a return to working conditions typical of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

With the onset of the pandemic in Brazil, the incessant coming and going of delivery workers has become an essential activity to maintain social distancing between people, and thus contain the spread of the virus. However, precisely during this period, the working conditions of thousands of motorcycle and bicycle couriers across the country have worsened considerably: they are subjected to inhumane “scoring” systems according to the volume of deliveries accomplished; they are summarily blocked or excluded from the apps, without prior notice or justification; even today they complain about the lack of personal protective equipment (e.g. masks, gloves, hand sanitizers). And when they test positive for the new coronavirus, platforms simply recommend that they seek assistance on their own.

The Arns Commission cannot remain silent in the face of this affront to the dignity of thousands of workers who are daily putting their lives at risk to serve society. The “uberization” of various sectors of the economy, including the false discourse by companies that delivery workers can become individual entrepreneurs – albeit stripped of any rights! – deserves our repudiation.

And, finally, to the delivery workers who will participate in the national protest Breque dos Apps, scheduled for this Saturday, we send all our solidarity. We hope that the stance taken by this professional category will have repercussions on the conscience of Brazilians.

Photo: Jaqueline Dreisde