"Long silenced, gig workers in Indonesia are organising and fighting for their rights"

... On 29 August 2024, the streets around the Presidential palace and the headquarters of Grab and GoJek in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, were filled with thousands of striking motorcycle taxi gig workers and their allies, wearing green jackets, helmets, and carrying signs calling on better working conditions and legal protections.

It was the latest in what has become a regular occurrence across the country: actions, strikes and protests by an increasingly organised sector. Gig workers, long left out of the labour movement, are gaining a voice and calling for concrete policy changes.

“Gig workers need to have social security, health insurance, and especially, accident insurance,” says Prihanani*, the vice president for foreign affairs with the national trade union centre Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia (KSPI). “Second, the government must create regulations that allow platform workers to be recognised as employees, and oblige platform operators to provide social security.”

While an increasing number of gig workers are joining KSPI and other union affiliates, the vast majority do not. Instead, they’re joining informal gig worker associations, like Garda, an organisation of ojek (motobike taxi) drivers and the lead organiser of the August protest.

[...]

The August protests were organised by a network of driver associations like Garda Indonesia, while other groups like the Indonesian Transport Workers Union (SPAI) have also held strikes, as recently as February, and have more planned this year.

[...]

Nuryani* is a 48-year-old woman driver for both Grab and GoJek, and remembers that when she first started working as a gig worker, she could earn 300,000 rupiah (approximately US$19) per day. Now, a 17-hour day can net less than 100,000 IDR (US$7), as rates decrease, platforms increase their cuts, and competition grows.

“The platforms can earn a lot of money, but we get nothing out of it,” says Rusli*, a 55-year-old male GoJek driver ...

[...]