The date of October 8th is not chosen at random, but strategically. We want to join the defense of the AB5 law in the State of California (USA), which has granted thousands of app workers the recognition of their work. On October 6th, the vote on the permanence and implementation of this law will begin in this state. We are publicly calling for rejection of the attack organized by Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, who have already "invested" more than $180 million dollars to get people to vote for the anti-worker proposal 22.
From Japan to the United States; from Germany to France, Spain and Italy; from Mexico and through Latin America to Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, the demands to the bosses will be heard in an organized manner, wich in many cases are the same companies: Uber/Uber Eats, Pedidos Ya, Rappi, Glovo, iFood, Deliveroo, Lyft, DoorDash, etc.
These companies are trying to impose a model of labor flexibilization, which means a step backwards on the labor rights acquired by all the workers of the world. This new labor model is characterized by the role that the employers give to technology in order to increase their own profits at the expense of the decline in the living conditions of millions of workers. And also by the widespread action of the states in allowing and guaranteeing the precariousness of labor that they want to impose.
The Coronavirus pandemic is deepening the job precariousness of app-based workers, as tens of thousands of colleagues have been affected by the spread of the virus, and companies have not provided enough safety and hygiene materials in quantity and quality to try to prevent the spread of COVID19, affecting workers and users.
The great struggles that were brewed in different countries of the world, with thousands of app-based workers in the streets of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, California, etc. have been preparing the necessary conditions to carry out this Fourth International Stoppage of Delivery and Application Workers.
We denounce the brutal repression of the police and paramilitary groups in Colombia that has already caused more than 13 deaths, two of whom are fellow delivery workers. Colombian workers are rising up in the face of President Duque's brutal adjustment, which seeks to lay the crisis on the backs of workers, we stand in solidarity with Colombian workers struggle.
We reject the regulations that pretend to vote in Argentina, Colombia and other countries where delivery riders have not been consulted, and in which they pretend to institutionalize labor fraud and poor working conditions.
We repudiate and denounce the pirate agreement signed by the platforms in Italy. An agreement that further worsens and exasperates the precarious conditions in which riders are forced to work. On October 8th we will raise the flags of the fair claim of employee recognition:
For the increase in our income that in many cases have been frozen for more than two years or in more severe cases have been unilaterally reduced by companies.
We reject the ranking system that encourages deadly competition among workers. We demand app-based companies to provide worker compensation, medical coverage and theft – they must also take care of the work equipement, accidents, hospital stays at no cost to the workers. We demand paid leave for illness, accidents and parental.
We demand justice and reparation through compensation for the families of the comrades who died while at work.
Through assemblies and the genuine participation of app-based workers, let's reinforce the organization and class unity so we can hit like a single fist.
Long live the International struggle of workers!
Long live the October 8th International App-Based Workers' and Delivery Riders' Strike!