Deliverers try to get new Apps Brake this Friday

Deliverers are calling for a new stoppage of transport and delivery apps for this Friday (1st), in another attempt to reissue the “Apps Brake” held in July 2020.

This year, the movement is being called “Apps Blackout”, in a call also to consumers, not to place orders. Among the demands are an increase in minimum rates, an end to blockades considered unfair and better working conditions.

Paulo Lima, o Galo, from the Antifascist Deliverers, says that the protest was born out of collective dissatisfaction.

The date was chosen because it is the eve of the day on which the new iFood minimum rate begins to apply. From the current BRL 5.31, the floor per route will be BRL 6, and the kilometer traveled will go from BRL 1 to BRL 1.50.

For couriers, the increase is insufficient and was defined before the new fuel hikes. According to them, the readjustment of the floor per route would need to reach at least R$ 8. The iFood says that this is the third readjustment in 12 months.

On Tuesday (29), other movements were registered in cities like Rio de Janeiro and Juiz de Fora, with similar agendas. Leadership among app delivery people and drivers is pulverized, which makes it difficult to organize a unified movement, even though some disclosures treat Friday’s movement as a unified strike.

“As there’s no big movement behind, we never know if we’re going to have great grip, we don’t have much control”, says Galo.

In this Friday’s protest, iFood is the main target. In São Paulo, delivery people say they will meet at the app’s headquarters, in Osasco, from 7 am.

At least two organizations have already said they will not participate: Sindimoto-SP (Sindicato dos Mensageiros Motociclistas, Cyclistas e Moto-Taxistas de São Paulo) and Amabr (Association of Applications and Self-Employed Motorcyclists of Brazil).

Despite not participating in the act, the union supports the demonstration, says Gilberto Almeida do Santos. “Our demands are judicialized”, he says.

At the end of 2021, the Public Ministry of Labor filed public civil actions against the main applications.

The union defends that delivery people are hired with a formal contract. “It’s not just Social Security protection, it’s necessary to have a floor, journey, readjustment by the INPC [índice de inflação].”

Edgar Francisco da Silva, aka Gringo, president of Amabr, says he will not participate, but has encouraged his colleagues. In Rio, the participation of couriers is also not foreseen, says Ralf Elisário, owner of a YouTube channel with 26 thousand subscribers, and who is seen as an informal leader of the category in the state.

iFood, 99 and Rappi say in a statement that they respect the right to demonstrate and maintain dialogue with delivery people. ABO2O (Associação Brasileira Online to Offline), which represents companies such as Loggi and Rappi, says that the platforms have been adapting and seeking to increase the protection of couriers.

“In the current scenario of external shocks, such as the increase in the price of gasoline, the associated companies have made adjustments compatible with the model of each business and with the stage of maturity of each associated startup”, says the entity.

Rappi says it has readjusted its rates to alleviate the impact of rising fuel prices. From BRL 6.30, in June 2021, the floor is BRL 8.80. On the 23rd, 99 launched an additional R$0.10 per kilometer traveled for every R$1 increase in the average price of fuel.

Category has no consensus on which legislation is best

After the 2020 crash, the platforms announced investments and benefits for couriers and, more recently, began to advocate the development of legislation that accommodates this work dynamic.

Currently, couriers and drivers can become individual microentrepreneurs (MEI). This framework costs R$ 65.60 (the contribution is equivalent to 5% of the minimum wage and another R$ 5 referring to the ISS, which is the municipal tax) and must be paid by the worker himself monthly.

Social security protection, which entitles you to sick pay, for example, only starts after 12 contributions – this is the so-called grace period.

There is no consensus among leaders as to the ideal protection model. Sindimoto-SP defends the CLT, for example.

Gringo, from Amabr, says that the formal contract is “old medicine for new pain”, but that there is a need for protection. “The CLT was something very difficult, we understand that, but the working model of the apps is new, we need our own rules.”

Friday’s protests are trying to hitch a ride at a time of heightened tension between couriers and apps. The circulation of a bill creating a mandatory contribution model generated a wave of dissatisfaction.

Gringo was one of those who criticized the proposal, as the category was not heard. Elisário, from Rio, and Santos, from Sindimoto-SP, have the same complaint.

The text that circulated among the couriers provides for a contribution of 11% to the INSS, divided into rates of 3.5% for workers, and 7.5% for companies. The percentage would be calculated on a basis of 20% for drivers and 50% for delivery men, on the gross income of these workers.

The negative reaction of the delivery men led federal deputy Luísa Canziani (PSD-PR), president of the Mixed Parliamentary Front for Digital Economy, to release a video denying that the project was about to be presented.

THE sheet confirmed, however, that the text is under discussion by the Digital Front, which has been talking to parliamentarians and companies in the sector.

There is also the expectation that the federal government will present a proposal for regulation for this type of work, through a bill or provisional measure, but the changes in the Ministry of Labor and Social Security – the then president of the INSS, José Carlos Oliveira, took over this Thursday (31) the place that was occupied by Onyx Lorenzoni – they postponed the undertaking.

For couriers, the Frente Digital proposal has the footprints of the two biggest apps, iFood and Uber – the first, leader in deliveries, and the second, in passenger transport.

Uber and iFood have publicly defended the definition of legislation that includes the collection of social security contributions by both couriers and companies, an agenda also defended by Amobitec (Brazilian Association of Mobility and Technology), of which 99 and Amazon are part.

“We are committed to building a regulatory environment that provides this social protection to workers, while providing legal certainty”, says the entity.

Not all apps agree. Away from the spotlight, companies are opposed. ABO2O says that it did not participate in the elaboration of the project under discussion at the Digital Front, but that it recognizes the importance of mechanisms that guarantee social protection.

Ralf Elisário says that the proposal pleases iFood because most of the delivery of the application is outsourced. The delivery platform has two models: those registered in the app, called “cloud”, and the OL (logistics operators), which are hired by companies.

The problem with OLs, according to Gringo, from Amabr, is that the delivery person loses autonomy. There are working hours, number of visits per day and a limited area of ​​activity (the squares).

“The cloud has freedom. It can actually shut down the app and not work, it just takes longer to play [chamados de corridas]so a lot of people turn OL because it’s more guaranteed.”

According to Elisário, the logistics operators serve to guarantee the application that there will be people to answer the orders at critical moments, such as strike attempts or rainy days.

iFood says that 80% of its 200,000 couriers are cloud-type, a fact contested by couriers, who claim that the proportion is inverse. In December, the application promoted a meeting with workers, which resulted in the commitment to accelerate the migration process of those who want to be the cloud.

Until last year, the delivery person needed to stay 60 days without races as a logistics operator before being accepted as a cloud. Since December 20, the deadline has been reduced to 35 days.