Buenos Aires judge bans delivery apps after road
accidents spike
Ruling also
raises concerns over workers’ rights, and orders credit card companies to block
transactions made via apps
Amy Booth Fri 16 Aug 2019 06.00 BST
When a courier
delivering a takeaway in Buenos Aires was hit by a car, the company’s response
was not to check how he was, but to ask: “How is the order?”
Courier Ernesto
Floridia, 63, was run over on 27 July while delivering pizza ordered through
Glovo, an on-demand courier service. When he texted the company about the
accident, the co-ordinator replied: “How is the order. It is in good or bad
condition to be delivered?” When he said he couldn’t move, the coordinator
messaged: “Ernesto can you send me a picture of the products please?”
Journalist Yanina Otero tweeted a photo of the exchange in which Floridia’s
phone appears to be smeared with blood.
The tweet went
viral, andwas retweeted more than 60,000 times, with social media users
outraged at Glovo’s response. A judge has now taken it to a provocative
conclusion: he has ordered the suspension of delivery apps after finding that
major players Rappi, Glovo, and PedidosYa, failed to comply with the law –
which the companies deny.
(…)
On 2 August,
Judge Roberto Gallardo ordered the suspension of the apps in the city over
concerns that the companies don’t satisfy transport and labour laws. They are
banned until they start following the law. His ruling applies to all companies
that fail to comply with the law, but specifically mentions major delivery apps
Rappi, Glovo, and PedidosYa.
Gallardo, who
interrupted the mid-year judicial recess in order to handle the case, later
said: “The situation described entails a foreseeable and immediate risk to
frustrate the rights to life, physical integrity and work.”
He has ordered
credit card companies to block transactions made via the apps. Delivery
companies will also be fined ARS10,000 (£149.35) each time police checkpoints
catch a courier breaching health and safety requirements.
(…)
Juan Manuel
Ottaviano (no relation), a labour lawyer and assessor at the Association of
Platform Workers, drew parallels with Uber. The ride hailing app is fighting a
legal battle with the City of Buenos Aires about whether the law should treat
it as a technology company or a taxi service. Drivers are left in a legal grey
area, but keep working because they need the income.
“Instead of
discussing working conditions, it’s about the legality or illegality of the
workers,” Juan Manuel said. “It generates underground work, means more
precarious working conditions.” He said app work is not characteristic of
self-employment because it’s most couriers’ sole source of income, they receive
direct orders, and can be disciplined.
While many
people in the city rely on this work to make a living, the drawbacks of these
apps are becoming increasingly apparent. “If the most important thing is how
quickly the pizza gets there, more guys are going to die,” said Gonzalo.
“Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd”.
In the same Yanina's twitter we can read:
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