India: Urban Company's beauty segment workers protest over long working hours and ID blocking
"When I joined Urban Company in 2019, they said it would be flexible working hours and only up to 10 hours a day. Now, they are asking us to work around 13 hours on weekends with no additional incentives. If we skip a single duty due to a personal emergency, they will block us. If our rating falls below 4.8, our IDs will be blocked"Beautician from a northeastern state working in Urban Company, Bengaluru
"Urban Company’s beauty segment workers stage demonstration in Bengaluru over ID blocking", June 10, 2024
...A Gig and Platform Services Workers Union (GIPSWU) leader said that the 'auto assigning' job feature is subjecting partners to a situation akin to slavery. "Women are the most affected since they joined the platform after the promises of duties within a 5-kilometer radius, but now they are being sent far away. They need to spend more on transportation charges for commuting to work," she said. GIPSWU is affiliated to Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT)...
A beautician from Assam said 'auto-assigning job feature' are depriving them of their basic human rights. "Sometimes, we face illness or family emergencies, but these tech features fail to comprehend our human situations. If we fail to show up for jobs, we are terminated or our work IDs get blocked."...
Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary of IFAT, said, "Urban Company, despite being averse to engaging with unions, must acknowledge that thousands of young workers form the backbone of this firm."...