Uganda: Fairwork report finds poor working conditions across 12 platform companies; incl., gendered risks for women workers; incl., cos responses & non-responses
Being a woman platform worker meant getting fewer clients, because of gendered cultural biases; not able to work during unsafe, but higher-paying, peak hours; and not able to sustain platform work when the various costs outweigh the benefits.Fairwork, Uganda Ratings 2023
In August 2023, Fairwork published a report rating 12 ride-hailing and food delivery companies’ performances against five standards of fair work: fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation. The report shows most platforms did not evidence that they could guarantee fair working conditions.
The report found Glovo performed the best, as it was the only platform to score any points (two points out of a possible ten). The remaining eleven platforms (Bolt, Easy Matatu, Jumia, Little, Uber, Delivery Yo, Lolo, Quicksend, SafeBoda, SPESHO, and Tuko Food Delivery) did not score any points due to a lack of evidence that they met the five principles’ thresholds.
Despite the platforms positioning themselves as worker friendly, the research could find no evidence of fair working conditions.Fairwork, Uganda Ratings 2023.
The report outlines a number of labour rights concerns experienced by platform workers who participated in the research, including robbery, harassment, non-payment, a lack of access to information and clarity over contracts, unfair management (including discrimination), and no evidence of assuring freedom of association and expression of collective worker voice.
In particular, the report sheds light on the experiences of women platform workers in the country. The report highlights the gendered harms experienced by women workers due to the unfair power dynamics in platform work. These gendered harms include violence amid a lack of meaningful safety measures, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment.
In December 2023, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre invited Glovo, Bolt, Easy Matatu, Jumia, Little, Uber, Delivery Yo, Lolo, Quicksend, SafeBoda, SPESHO, and Tuko Food Delivery to respond to the report's findings. Glovo and Jumia's responses can be read in full below. Bolt, Easy Matatu, Little, Uber, Delivery Yo, Lolo, Quicksend, SafeBoda, SPESHO, and Tuko Food Delivery did not respond.