'Strike Showed Lack Of Protection For Gig Workers'

A corporate lawyer has warned that last week’s strike by Foodpanda delivery workers has exposed a lack of labour protections for gig economy workers in Hong Kong.

Daniel Tang, a partner at the law firm Withers, said delivery staff for the app are technically independent contractors, which means they don't have the same protections as employees under the SAR's employment laws.

Tang also told RTHK that the gig economy system doesn't have a lot of flexibility for workers to choose when they work, and the strike was significant given that those involved had a "no-work, no pay" deal, meaning they lost earnings while on strike.

He said it was very likely that other gig economy workers could follow those at Foodpanda in pushing for better working conditions.

“It really depends on whether the other platforms will learn from this incident and improve their terms,” he said.

“Today’s internet economy is very transparent – once the terms of this deal between the Foodpanda workers and the company becomes public, I think the other platforms will be under quite substantial pressure to align their policies, so as to improve their terms to be on an equal footing with Foodpanda."

Foodpanda bosses and delivery workers last week came to an agreement on fees after a strike disrupted deliveries in some parts of Hong Kong.

Workers said they were unhappy at cuts in delivery fees and the suspension of some couriers as a result of customer complaints.