Hyderabad: Gig workers join nationwide protest

Thousands of delivery workers across India, led by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and IFAT, staged flash strikes demanding fair wages, safe working conditions, and social security. The protests disrupted services nationwide, with companies attempting to counter the strike by deploying third-party operators and offering incentives.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) on Thursday joined the nationwide protest in support of their demands for fair wages, safe working conditions, social security and other rights.

In Hyderabad, flash rallies were conducted in different places. Approximately 40,000 delivery workers from major platforms participated in the flash strike, protesting unsafe working conditions, unfair pay, algorithmic control, ID blocking, and denial of dignity and social security, TGPWU founder-president Shaik Salauddin said in a statement.

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The strike had a significant nationwide impact as orders were delayed or disrupted across multiple cities and stores. Platform companies attempted to break the strike by deploying third-party delivery companies such as Shadowfax and Rapido. Aggregators offered extra incentive pay and temporarily reactivated inactive IDs to manage operations, he said.

However, the flash strike demonstrated the unity and resistance of delivery workers across India against exploitative platform practices, he added.