A study coordinated by the Oxford Internet Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, carried out in 27 countries, found that Brazilian digital platforms such as Uber, 99, iFood, Rappi and Get Ninjas do not offer standards considered minimum for decent work.
According to the report, which will be released to the public this Thursday (17) and was obtained by BBC News Brasil at first hand, no Brazilian platform obtained more than two points, out of a maximum of ten, in an evaluation based on five working principles. fair—fair pay, working conditions, contracts, management and representation.
iFood and 99 only scored two points each, while Uber received one point. Rappi, Get Ninjas and Uber Eats got zero in the ranking – despite being included in the study, carried out in 2021, Uber’s food delivery service ended its activities in Brazil in March this year.
According to the researchers of the Fairwork project, the Brazilian result is similar to that of other Latin American countries, such as Chile and Ecuador, but worse than that of continents such as Africa, Asia and Europe, where there are platforms with high scores, such as seven or eight. points out of ten.
Contacted by BBC News Brasil to comment on the results of the study, iFood said it is ahead of the industry, but needs and will do more; 99 recognized the importance of the Fairwork initiative and said it works in partnership with the institution.
Rappi regretted “the fact that the project did not access the company’s information related to the object of the research, which would likely change its classification”. Uber, on the other hand, did not comment on the results, choosing to highlight research that has pointed out the importance of income obtained from apps in the current context.
BBC News Brasil had not been able to get in touch with Get Ninjas, but, after the report was published, the company sent a note saying that “it was not consulted during the preparation of the research carried out by Fairwork to clarify the platform’s operating model”.
decent work
Decent work is a term coined in 1999 by the ILO (International Labor Organization) and is part of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 20130 (United Nations).
“The idea of decent work is to think not only about the number of employees and unemployed, but the quality of that work”, explains Rafael Grohmann, a professor at Unisinos (University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos) and one of the authors of the study in Brazil.
“We understand that the future of work has to be decent work, with less precariousness and not just underemployment. Our objective is to show that better and fairer jobs are possible in the platform economy”, adds the researcher.
The Fairwork project was founded at the University of Oxford, UK, in 2018. In Brazil, in addition to Unisinos, USP (University of São Paulo), UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), UFRGS (Federal University do Rio Grande do Sul) and UTFPR (Federal Technological University of Paraná).
The survey and its main results
The group of Brazilian universities collected information about the companies through documentary research, evidence presented by the platforms and interviews with workers.
To make the score, each of the five fair work principles is divided into two points, one basic and one more advanced, only awarded if the basics are met.
In terms of remuneration, it is considered whether workers earn above the local minimum wage (R$ 1,212 currently) or above the ideal minimum wage (R$ 5,513.17, according to Dieese’s calculation). Here, only 99 scored at the basic level, demonstrating that all its workers earn more than the equivalent of the minimum wage per hour of work.
In working conditions, actions are evaluated to protect workers from specific risks related to the activity. At this point, Uber and 99 scored, with policies considered effective for the distribution of PPE (personal protective equipment) and health and accident insurance.
In contracts, it is assessed whether these documents are presented in a clear, understandable and accessible form to workers at all times, with reasonable notice of any changes to the terms. Only iFood scored here, showing that it has basic standards in relation to fair contracts.
In management, it is assessed whether the company has effective communication channels, transparent appeals processes and anti-discrimination policies. No company scored on this item.
In representation, it was evaluated whether the platform has policies to recognize the voice of the worker and the workers’ organization. Here again, only iFood scored, for having created, based on its involvement with the Fairwork project, a forum for couriers, as a channel of communication with leaders of the category.
Thus, no company surpassed two points out of a possible ten, and three of them failed to obtain any points.
“The scores show that, at the very least, digital work platforms have contributed to the maintenance and, probably, to the worsening of unequal and precarious conditions in the Brazilian labor market”, the researchers note in their final report.
‘Very bad situation’
“The interpretation we should make of this result is that Brazil is in a very bad situation, including within Latin America. In Asian and African countries, for example, Ghana, Indonesia, India, Egypt, have platforms that score 6, 7 , 8”, observes Rafael Grohmann, from Unisinos and Fairwork Brasil.
“They are generally local platforms, which have a little more to do with the common good and the real community than something just for image”, he evaluates.
He states, however, that the Brazilian result is similar to that of Ecuador and Chile, where no platform had a result above 3 points.
Grohmann notes that the aim of the study is not just to be critical, but also to be proactive, serving as a basis for changing platform policies and consumer choices (who, within the same industry, can, for example, choose the company with the highest score) and in the formulation of sectoral public policies.
“What we always say is that the current scenario is not inevitable. We now have a first portrait, the second report will be released in December of this year and the third, in October of next year. We will expand the number of evaluated platforms and continue to pressure companies for changes. Many of these changes are already underway”, highlights the researcher.
A future of decent work
For Grohmann, in addition to examples from other countries, national experiences of cooperativism and platforms managed by the public power with fairer terms can serve as a guide or alternative for work managed by more dignified platforms.
He also highlights the role of collective organization to improve working conditions. In the Fairwork report, the researchers recall the major delivery strikes of 2020 and 2021, a movement known as “Apps Braking”.
Scholars observe workers’ frustration with the results of the mobilization and the reprisals suffered as a result of the struggle. For the Unisinos professor, the process of collective organization takes time, but it is key to change.
“It is difficult to organize collectively anywhere, but there are a number of struggles being fought, organizations being set up, there are unions and cooperatives of drivers, delivery people and other sectors, such as the transcription of TikTok videos”, he exemplifies.
“The way is organization, but organization takes time”, he concludes.
What companies say
In a note, iFood stated that it has been dedicated to creating initiatives that guarantee more dignity, gains and transparency for delivery people.
“Our Fairwork rating shows that while our initiatives position us ahead of the industry, we need to do more. And we will,” the company said. “Our team will meet with Fairwork in the coming days to listen to the feedback on the study and gather important inputs to improve our policies in favor of the category.”
The company cited as initiatives that have adopted two tariff readjustments in less than 12 months; the creation of insurance against personal accidents; the establishment of more than 1,400 support points; and the advancement in the relationship with couriers from the first forum with leaders in the category.
99, in turn, said that it “recognises and reinforces the importance of the Fairwork Brasil initiative and works in partnership with the institution, proactively contributing and closely monitoring the results of the research, which brings a new direction to the sector in the country”.
“For 99, the well-being of our driver partners is our priority, and we have worked daily over the past ten years to improve their journey,” the platform added.
Rappi stated that “it considers that the sustainability of its digital ecosystem is only possible when the three links in its chain are benefited, among which are the partner deliverers. In this way, the company maintains a constant dialogue with them and is permanently attentive to solutions that may favor them”.
The company cited as initiatives that it has been adopting the offer of on-site service centers; real-time support; training courses; emergency button for risky situations; personal accident, permanent disability and accidental death insurance; and two health care plans.
He also mentioned a BRL 25 million fund intended to guarantee increased earnings for couriers between June 2021 and January 2022, offsetting the increase in gasoline, which would have resulted in a 34% increase in income per order in that period.
Uber cited research from Ipea and Datafolha on the sector, but said it could not comment on the Fairwork study in detail because it did not have access to the methodology and full results.
“A recent survey by the Datafolha Institute identified that 82% of Brazilians consider that driving or delivering with apps like Uber’s ‘is a decent job’ and, for 88%, it’s an option that ‘helps reduce unemployment'”, he quoted. the company, in note.
“The drivers and delivery men themselves, interviewed by Datafolha in another national survey, revealed the desire to maintain their autonomy as independent professionals, but rely on the benefits offered by Social Security”, observes the platform.
Uber and iFood said they advocate changes in legislation to allow workers linked to platforms to have access to social security protection.
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