Imagine frequently working more than 11 hours a day—or even up to 16 hours a day—to earn a living. Those hours are what nearly all (93 percent) app-based passenger and delivery drivers say they must work to support themselves and their families in Sri Lanka, according to a new Solidarity Center report.
With 100 Sinhalese and Tamil platform workers surveyed in Colombo, the Sri Lanka capital, and several interviewed, Low Pay, No Support: Delivery Drivers Fight for Worker Rights, examines the struggles of app-based workers who are not covered by hard-won labor laws that mandate a minimum wage, social protections and the right to join or form a union and bargain collectively.
“The money I earn each day is just enough to cover that day’s expenses; most of it goes toward petrol and other vehicle expenses,” says Abdul Illias, who drives passengers for PickMe and Uber. “It’s not sufficient to save for tomorrow, so we must continue working daily to manage for the next day,” says Illias, a 50-year-old father of three who drives passengers (names were changed to protect workers’ privacy).
While the rapid increase in app-based jobs around the world offers millions of workers additional avenues to earn money, it also creates new opportunities for employer exploitation through low wages, lack of health care and an absence of job safety. The new report identifies these challenges and seeks to ensure platform workers receive decent work.
When the Boss Is an App
With increasing growth in the informal economy, unions, employers and the government should engage in dialogue to ensure worker rights are protected and the countries benefit from the platform economy, Credit: Solidarity Center
None of the drivers or deliverers surveyed or interviewed receive vacation or sick pay. They work long hours and rush between deliveries, risking their safety, because if they do not, the app—via the company—punishes them by lowering pay. When drivers or deliverers are injured, they receive no compensation from their employers and often do not even receive a phone call.
Ayomi, a 38-year-old bicycle delivery driver for Uber Eats, describes the hardships.
“We are on the roads for 10–12 hours a day, and we have no support if we get into accidents,” she says. “In December last year, I had an accident where both my hands were broken. I was bedridden for nearly six months. The company did nothing. The company expects us to be admitted to a private hospital for treatment to receive a larger [insurance] payout, but we can’t do that; we don’t have that kind of money.”
“There is a difference between the actual distance and what the app indicates,” says Jayasinghe Lanka, 52, a seven-year Uber driver.
“I’ve observed that Uber reduces 100 meters for every kilometer. So, when we travel 10 kilometers, it automatically reduces it by one kilometer and shows it as nine kilometers. I joined Uber when it first started in Sri Lanka. They painted a picture of paradise for us. Now, they are exploiting Uber drivers.”
Women passenger and delivery drivers experience even more difficulty, says Chiththara, 41, who supports her mother with her pay as an Uber Eats delivery driver.
“We face health and safety issues, and when we wait for orders, we don’t have a proper facility nearby for sanitary needs. We work during the night, and even though they know a woman will pick up the order, [the app] still sends us to faraway areas. The app selecting main roads instead of smaller ones would improve our safety. They should be more mindful of the roads they choose.”
Delivery and passenger drivers in Sri Lanka are now joining together to form a union—and demand change.
Building Union Strength for Decent Work
Charith Attanapola, who is organizing app-based platform workers in Sri Lanka, says drivers are “working to build strong collective bargaining power to negotiate better terms and conditions.” A key part of drivers’ campaign for fairness is addressing arbitrary and unfair algorithms. Delivery workers suffer from bans from the app, without the right to defend themselves. Among many goals, Attanapola says the union, now with 350 members, plans to advocate and negotiate transparent and fair pricing mechanisms and fair revenue-sharing models.
Attanapola and others members seek to register their union under the name Sri Lanka App Workers Unions and to negotiate contracts that establish reasonable work hours and breaks that protect workers’ health and safety, guard against exploitation and enable app-based taxi drivers and delivery workers to earn decent wages without unreasonably long hours.
“We also will advocate for safe and healthy working conditions, including measures to prevent workplace injuries and harassment,” he said. The union looks to provide solutions “for minimal to zero resting places and sanitation facilities in major cities around Sri Lanka.”
As in countries elsewhere, Sri Lanka’s app-based taxi drivers and delivery workers are classified as freelancers or self-employed workers, an independent worker status outside labor regulation.
App-based workers are seeking coverage by the same labor regulations as protect those in the formal sector, including wage rates, workplace safety and health standards and health coverage.
“I think the government should intervene in this sector and establish regulations. Otherwise,
companies like Uber and PickMe will always benefit while we get nothing,” says P. Karunaratna, a driver with Uber and Pick Me.
With increasing growth in the informal economy, unions, employers and the government should engage in dialogue to ensure worker rights are protected and the countries benefit from the platform economy,
Championing worker rights in Colombo and beyond requires workers joining together, Attanapola says.
“We encourage app workers “to join the trade union and participate actively in its activities, like advocating for safe and healthy working conditions.”
Central Asian workers who migrate for good paying jobs are navigating a rapidly changing environment due to shifts in economic options and political instability. At the same time, a growing number of women and young migrant workers, who face particular vulnerabilities, are increasingly seeking to migrate. Safeguarding worker rights amid changing migration flows is a challenge best addressed when stakeholders from the region join together to develop and coordinate safe migration strategies, according to panelists at a Solidarity Center webinar this week.
Migrant workers in Central Asia seek good jobs to support themselves and their families. Credit: Solidarity Center
“We really feel the need of cooperation with destination countries to find more systematic ways of organizing these workers,” said Edwin Atema, leader of the Road Transport Due Diligence Foundation. “Because, on a daily basis, our staff is saving the lives of workers.” Atema was among eight participants and Solidarity Center partners in the webinar, moderated by Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau and including Kelly Faye Rodriguez, U.S. Department of State special representative for international labor affairs.
“Regional government dialogue is a key and it’s very important since now not only Kazakhstan, but Kyrgyzstan also become the only country of origin, but also country of destination,” said Evgeniya Li, Solidarity Center program coordinator. “The main steps that should be taken in the future are facilitating cooperation, addressing labor market needs, and improving migrants’ rights.”
Workers Migrate for Decent Jobs
Based on a research sample of 1,031 migrant workers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, research by the Solidarity Center found that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are primarily origin countries, with Kazakhstan becoming an increasingly popular destination country. Overall, 58 percent of those interviewed say they migrated because of low wages in home countries, and 31 percent because of the lack of jobs and unemployment.
While Russia long was a destination country for migrant workers from Central Asia, the number of workers migrating there has decreased following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the country’s decreased economic opportunities. The survey found migrant workers are now choosing Kazakhstan (28 percent), Türkiye (27 percent), Germany (21 percent) and South Korea (16 percent).
As in many countries, Central Asian migrant workers are found in a variety of jobs, including construction, agriculture, trade, transportation, public catering and much more.
Low Pay, Poor Conditions and Growing Numbers of Women, Young People
“Overtime was not paid; we were paid just the regular salary. If I got sick, it was my problem; the employer didn’t cover it. You had to pay for treatment yourself,” said one worker from Uzbekistan who was surveyed in the report. The 30-year-old cook had spent seven years as a migrant worker and describes a common experience, in which migrant workers receive no overtime payment or sick leave and often endure discrimination and gender-based harassment and violence, said Lola Abdukadyrova, Solidarity Center regional director in Kyrgyzstan.
“Twenty-nine percent of respondents’ households are on the verge of poverty, they do not always have enough money for food,” she said of Kyrgyzstan. For migrants from Uzbekistan, “45 percent of respondents’ households are on the verge of poverty,” said Nodira Karimova, director of the Republican Social Information Center Istiqbolli Avlod.
“They have enough money only for food. Salary is not paid regularly,” said Abdukadyrova. “The workload increases without a salary increase. And they’re working irregular hours. Employers do not provide a safe workplace.”
Gulnara Derbisheva, director of Insan-Leilek, an NGO advocating for migrant worker rights, discussed how women are especially at risk, facing gender-based violence and harassment, an increase that Li said necessitates “targeted policies and programs to support women’s formal employment and provide access to legal aid.”
Panelists saw a video describing efforts by the Solidarity Center in Kyrgyzstan to support pre-migration training and labor rights training,
In a video describing efforts by the Solidarity Center in Kyrgyzstan to support pre-migration training and labor rights training, some 10,000 applicants sought visas for South Korea and the United Kingdom. Showing the video to participants, “you can see the portrait of the Kyrgyz labor migrant right now that is still very young,” said Abdukadyrova. When workers line up to apply for migration, “registration closes in five minutes. Increasingly, young people are looking for jobs outside the country.”
“Ensuring migrant workers are protected by contracts and knowing they have labor rights is essential,” says Derbisheva, “especially as workers in informal economy jobs such as domestic work and taxi driving increase.” The survey shows most migrants from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (76 percent) do not have labor contracts, “making them even more vulnerable to labor rights violations,” said Abdukadyrova.
“The share of informal migrants is very high. There is a low level of awareness for labor rights and few have contracts,” said Derbisheva, whose organization campaigns to aid workers in forced labor and provide free legal assistance, such as recovering fees and unpaid salaries. “They are major stakeholders and we have to involve them.”
Going Forward
Credit: Solidarity Center
The first recommendation to address migration should involve “strengthening work prior to leaving their countries,” says Derbisheva. When workers choose to migrate, panelists emphasized the need for a fair recruitment process and departure training for both migrant workers and potential migrant workers that underlines core labor rights and government engagement with countries to establish mutual agreements.
“Kazakhstan has endorsed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), and participates in various regional migration dialogues,” said Aleksandr Mukha, director of the Mangistau Regional Branch of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law. In another significant win for migrant worker rights organizations, Kyrgyzstan in August also issued the GCM with the goal of improving conditions for Kyrgyz citizens who travel abroad to earn their livelihoods.
The compact is the result of work by the Solidarity Center with its partners in Central Asia with the Migrant Workers Union, a network of nongovernmental organizations focused on migration, and relevant Kyrgyzstan state bodies.
“Migration long has been a critical issue for the Solidarity Center,” said Shawna Bader-Blau, panel moderator.
“In Central Asia, the Solidarity Center has been active since independence in helping to build democratic, worker-led organizations and to help ensure respect for fundamental worker rights. We operate programs in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from our field office located in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek,” she said. “Our long-time focus on migration in the region brought about real successes including the organization of a Migrant Workers Union that brings together more than 10,000 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for mutual protection of their rights.”
“We recognize that workers are all deserving of full respect of international labor standards without exception, including the freedom to form unions and collectively bargain regardless of immigration status, nationality, race, gender or sector of the economy,” she said.
“With Solidarity Center’s already deep contacts, all of our partners mentioned that in Central Asia we need to have this wide informational campaign, provide legal assistance, develop policies targeted to women migrants, mandatory pre-migration trainings, encourage migrant organization development and promote union membership and collective organization among migrant workers,” said Li
Presentations from the webinar, “Exploring Migration Trends in Central Asia: A Comprehensive Analysis of Changing Migration Flows and New Labor Markets in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,” along with an executive summary and infographic of the research conducted, are available on the Solidarity Center website. The full reports—one for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan—will be available on the Solidarity Center website next month.
Workers suffering from heat and other environmental stresses are best able to address the effects of climate change when they do so collectively, such as through their unions—especially when they can bargain collectively, according to Laurie Parsons of Royal Holloway, University of London.
“People are experts on their experience with heat,” said Parsons. “A key neglected area is to adapt to the challenge by acknowledging workers are their own experts.”
Studying garment workers, street vendors and informal economy workers, the report concluded that unionized workers are better able to mitigate heat stress at work than workers without a union.
Rising temperatures are significantly affecting workers. More than 70 percent of workers worldwide are at risk from severe heat. While outdoor workers—such as those growing food or building communities—are among those most affected, workers suffer from heat exposure in factories, warehouses and during daily commutes.
The study finds that 55.5 percent of those surveyed report experienced at least one environmental impact in their workplaces in the past 12 months, with air pollution the most common (30.5 percent), followed by extreme heat (25.5 percent) and flooding (9 percent).
The report shows that unionized workers experience half as much heat stress as nonunionized workers, and found that collective bargaining is the most effective form of collectively protecting workers from heat stress.
Workers whose unions bargained over heat experience 74 percent fewer minutes at dangerously high core body temperatures.
As a result, Parsons demonstrates that detailed attention to workers’ bodies to monitor heat “doesn’t cost a lot of money.”
But up to now, heat stress has not been addressed primarily because workers in Cambodia and elsewhere often find it difficult to form a union.
Overcoming Challenges to Joining a Union
“Workers face real obstruction,” said Somalay So, Solidarity Center senior program officer for equality, inclusion and diversity in Cambodia. So shared with panelists the ways in which employers deter workers from forming unions, the difficulties in obtaining union status to negotiate and, when workers win a union, the challenges they face when attempting to negotiate their first contract.
Yet, “despite all these challenges, workers try to achieve smaller agreements,” So said.
She described five innovative heat stress agreements that unions achieved in which a factory agreed to turn on its cooling systems and fans if the factory temperature rose above more than 35 degrees celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), and assigned mechanics to investigate, suggest and implement other measures if this is ineffective. To ensure companies do not argue that it is not too hot for employees to work, unions have negotiated a clause in which the factory installs a thermometer.
Union leaders also convince employers to protect workers by pointing out that it benefits the bottom line: “It is good for their reputation,” So said, adding that heat not only causes heart and lung problems and lower incomes for workers, it slows workers and their productivity.
Climate Change and Work
Workers experiencing forced migration or who work at informal economy jobs such as food vendors and waste pickers are significantly affected by heat stress because they have little or no formal protection under the law, said Nash Tysmans, organizer for Asia at StreetNet International.
“Some 61 percent of the global workforce are informal workers, yet over half of workers are the most underrepresented” by collective bargaining agreements, she said on the panel. The report found that informal economy workers are in unions experience less exposure to extreme heat.
Women workers are especially vulnerable. In Cambodia, where 85 percent of garment workers are women, heat stress can lead to gender-based violence, So said. Heat stress leads to workplace violence and harassment, with employers often responding to falling productivity leading to violence and harassment rather than addressing heat stress issues.
“When their income drops because of climate change, it translates into domestic violence and trafficking,” she said. Workers experiencing violence may leave their area or country to make a living, and can become targets of unscrupulous labor brokers. “Violence and harassment happens more with heat stress. When there is heat stress, women and children are vulnerable even at home.”
Parsons, a professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, and expert on the social, political and economic aspects of climate change, previously researched a 2022 report for the Solidarity Center in Cambodia.
“When people can exercise their rights as workers without repression, not only can they improve their own working conditions, but they can raise standards across workplaces, industries, and across society more broadly,” said moderator Sonia Mistry, Solidarity Center climate and labor justice director.
Said So: “A strong union is when you are able to organize,” so “unions can be at the negotiating table to resolve issues of workers.
Nearly two dozen participants from three countries joined in a recent leadership seminar in Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan, to discuss strategies for labor relations in inspectorates, unions and NGOs to fight labor corruption.
The seminar provided a deep understanding of basic labor rights and enabled participants to apply valuable lessons. Credit: Solidarity Center
“I didn’t know that this was such a relevant topic,” said Eshmurodova Sevara, a participant from Uzbekistan. “Corruption exists in our everyday life. As a student, I would like less of it in my life.”
The seminar provided a deep understanding of fundamental labor rights and also enabled participants to apply valuable lessons by utilizing effective tools to combat such corruption in labor as misappropriated funds, or personal gain at the expense of workers.
The regional seminar, part of a Solidarity Center school that facilitator Mukha Kazakhstan described as “very high,” builds on the success of the Annual School of Young Leaders in Kyrgyzstan, a country-wide program launched in 2019. The first Regional Youth School involved civil society and union members and leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Combining practical learning, including simulation exercises and gamification, the hands-on activities enabled participants to better understand the role of key institutions in addressing corruption in labor relations. (A video captures some of interactivity.)
Aliya Narbai, a participant from Kazakhstan, said he not only gained valuable insights, but practical tools he can apply. “After returning to Kazakhstan, I plan to initiate a campaign to raise public awareness about labor rights and corruption,” he said.
Equipped to Go Forward
“The school showed us how similar our challenges are. Now, we understand that we must act together, combining our efforts,” said Umar Zhaliev, a representative of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan.
The program’s primary goal—to equip young leaders with the knowledge and tools to take action—developed through sessions in which participants created action plans to implement after returning to their countries. Through an emerging youth activist network, participants can develop mutual support and collaboration to advance labor rights and combat corruption throughout the region.
“Organizing the youth school on labor rights was vital because it empowered young people with essential knowledge and fostered community engagement,” says Solidarity Center country program director Lola Abdukadyrova. “By equipping them with this knowledge, we’re nurturing informed advocates who can effectively engage in labor rights discussions and drive positive change in their communities.”
As Sevara said, when I return “to my home city, I will try to study it even more deeply in order to eradicate it, at least in small parts.”
Delivery drivers at iFood in Brazil say they face exhausting workdays, low pay, lack of adequate company support and poor health conditions. In fact, wages that do not cover the cost of living -–or even do not meet the local minimum wage law—force drivers to work longer hours, leading to unsafe or hazardous working conditions and accidents, say experts and app-based drivers.
“There are dangerous conditions on the road with intense traffic that increases the risk of accidents,” says Beethoven Gomes de Oliveira, an app driver in João Pessoa. “This is also true for mototaxi workers. And the app companies don’t care about us workers, they treat us as if we are disposable.”
Delivery drivers say they suffer from exhausting workdays, low pay and poor health conditions. Credit: Paloma Luna
Injuries for the low-wage delivery drivers are on the rise. São Paulo Hospital reports that the percentage of trauma patients rose from 20 percent of motorcycle drivers in2016 to 80 percent in 2022. Nearly seven people die riding a motorbike on average every day in São Paulo, which health and safety experts attribute to the rapid expansion of food delivery apps.
Workers Fear Poor Treatment Could Expand
Motorcycle and bike drivers are among Brazil’s 1.6 million app drivers and delivery people, a figure that grew rapidly after COVID as workers seek jobs in the informal economy to sustain themselves and their families. And iFood drivers delivered more than 100 million orders in August.
iFood is owned by the Dutch investment company Prosus, a subsidiary of South African tech giant Naspers, and dominates the Brazilian food delivery market with an approximately 80 percent share. iFood anticipates total revenue from its financial arm to rise 52 percent next year-–an amount workers say could easily cover living wages and safer working conditions.
“Pay is very low, not enough to meet our basic needs. For example, maintenance costs are very high, alongside vehicle insurance and food,” says Gomes de Oliveira, leader of the João Pessoa Municipal Delivery Workers’ Commission. We are out on the street all day–12 to 15 hours–to make 100 reales (approximately $18), and even that is a struggle.”
Fabricio Bloisi, iFood CEO, was appointed Naspers joint CEO in July, a move that app-based workers saymay spread a business model that destroys their lives.
During a recent shareholders’ meeting, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE) raised concerns about the treatment of delivery workers under Bloisi during his iFood tenure. The wider Naspers group owns the food delivery services Mr D Food, Superbalist, Takealot and Delivery Hero (25 percent).
iFood Stalls Negotiations, Basic Democratic Rights
App-based workers, the government and iFood worked together in 2023 on legislation to regulate the digital platform sector—but iFood did not negotiate in good faith with workers during the four-month process, stalling negotiations until recently when the company reached out to the Ministry of Labor.
Even as workers struggled for decent wages and safer working conditions, they say iFood has opposed their democratic right to form a union and stand together in their struggle. A FairWork report finds no evidence the platform ensures freedom of association and the expression of workers’ voice, and no evidence that it supports democratic governance.
Union supporters say they also are targeted by the company’s algorithm, with iFood blocking the accounts of leaders who question their organizing. Delivery drivers have regularly face inaccurate algorithims that cut their pay—or even deny them jobs.
“There are many algorithmic issues: accounts being blocked or deactivated, payments charged incorrectly or to the wrong person, deviations from the route without pay,” says Gomes de Oliveira.
A key part of drivers’ campaign for fairness is addressing arbitrary and unfair algorithms. Delivery workers suffer from bans from the app, without the right to defend themselves.
Company Should ‘Go Beyond Pursuit of Profits’
A 2022 report shows how far iFood was willing to control workers, including monitoring WhatsApp groups, creating fake profiles on social media and infiltrating with an agent. “The Hidden Propaganda Machine of iFood,” found the company hired an auditor specializing in human rights and spent over $1.1 million on research to determine strategies that would not increase the app’s fees during strikes.
As a result of the report and investigations conducted by the Federal Public Ministry and the Labor Public Ministry, iFood and its advertising agencies signed a Conduct Adjustment Term in July 2023. The company agreed it would not increase the fare for trips during a strike—an action delivery workers say often happened, resulting in “strikebreakers.” iFood also is obliged not to intervene directly or indirectly in workers’ organizations, and cannot influence the creation, operation and agendas of associations and unions.
Yet drivers say that iFood continues to violate international treaties, including the right for everyone, without discrimination, to equal pay for equal work and to form and join unions for the protection of their interests.
As the National App Delivery Workers’ Alliance said: “We believe that business leadership should go beyond the pursuit of profits. It should include a commitment to the well-being of workers, ensuring dignified working conditions and promoting practices that respect human rights.
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“The money I earn each day is just enough to cover that day’s expenses; most of it goes toward petrol and other vehicle expenses,” says Abdul Illias, who drives passengers for PickMe and Uber. “It’s not sufficient to save for tomorrow, so we must continue working daily to manage for the next day,” says Illias, a 50-year-old father of three who drives passengers (names were changed to protect workers’ privacy).
Based on a research sample of 1,031 migrant workers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, research by the Solidarity Center found that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are primarily origin countries, with Kazakhstan becoming an increasingly popular destination country. Overall, 58 percent of those interviewed say they migrated because of low wages in home countries, and 31 percent because of the lack of jobs and unemployment. 
