GLP-POWER
JELI is continuing to implement the Global Labor Project - Platform for Organization by Workers for Empowerment and Recognition (GLP-POWER). On 9 September 2022, JELI held an event to disseminate findings from this project’s research, with participants from various sectors including delivery riders, domestic workers, massage therapists, and sex workers. Other researchers, mass media organizations, and civil society groups also joined the event to comment on the research, including Rocket Media Lab, HRDF, and Empower Foundation.
The research considered four aspects: workers' relationships with platforms, contentment with working conditions and terms of work, the urgency of challenges and proposed solutions, and attitude toward collective actions. From a survey of more than 550 workers from 19 provinces, it identifies workers' most pressing issues: power differentials between platforms and workers; and dangerous occupational health and safety. This finding echoes the aforesaid worrying trends in safety and health concerns among platform workers in Thailand.
One of the most important findings in this survey is perhaps concerned with the perception of workers on the urgency of challenges. It is worth noting that, although respondents appear to be discontent the most with the areas of pay, costs of services, and welfare, the workers say that the most urgent issues to be addressed are rather occupational health and safety, emergency assistance, and lack of transparency (e.g. absence of contracts and arbitrary changes of rules).
However, we found that 35% of workers have not engaged in organizing activities with their fellow workers due to various limitations such as lack of strong leadership, fear of retaliation by the platform company, or lack of information. This research was very useful for JELI and grassroots organizations, for further work to advocate for the protection and recognition of gig workers.
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