The delivery men and drivers seek to be recognized as workers so that they enjoy full rights, such as social security and vacations,
Dozens of fatal accidents, kidnappings and even murders: Mexico City food distributors come together to claim, like their colleagues in other countries, their labor rights before the service platforms, adapting their fight to the dangers of the Mexican mega-city.
While in Europe they are preparing to discuss a proposal that recognizes the rights of platform workers such as Uber, Didi, Deliveroo, six initiatives introduced in the Mexican Congress do not finish advancing.
The proposals seek that both distributors and drivers are recognized as workers so that they enjoy full rights, such as social security, vacations and Christmas bonus, while the firms were classified as employees with all the obligations that this implies.
At least 500,000 people work informally in Mexico as taxi drivers or delivery men on these digital platforms, estimated in October by the Mexican Institute of Social Security.
In Mexico City, with crutches and a prosthetic left leg, Víctor, 33, continues to bring food to his home after suffering an accident on December 13, 2020 that resulted in a knee amputation.
“I was riding a motorcycle. That is where what I remember ends. I woke up on Friday. I did not remember anything. It was an ambulance that went in the opposite direction ”, this young man tells AFP in the middle of calls from a restaurant to take an order.
“After my accident I did not receive support from anyone, not from the government, nor from the ambulance that hit me, nor from their insurance. The expenses were paid by my family and I ”, regrets Víctor.
Even though the accident did not occur when he was delivering a service, Víctor has become a media figure of the “Not a Distributor Less” movement, which demands that these couriers be recognized as workers with all their rights, especially in terms of safety.
“We are talking about 56 companions who died from March 2020 to this year, 52 have died in road events and four were killed or stabbed, ”says Saúl Gómez, one of the founders of the group.
In a matter of hours, “Not one delivery man less” added the victim 57, documented with images. As with this type of desire, it is difficult to confirm the independent source figures.
The capital of Mexico is a dangerous city to ride on two wheels despite the fact that exclusive lanes for bicycles have been laid out in different areas. Proof of this is that last Sunday a drunk driver ran over a score of cyclists who were going on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe.
The group denounced the run over with the support of impressive images of the moment, widely disseminated by local media. A dozen cyclists had to be hospitalized and the driver and his companion were arrested.
“First we ask for road safety,” says Saúl.
The dangers of the street
“Not a dealer less”, recently created, has carried out various demonstrations, such as a sit-in in front of the National Palace, seat of the federal government, and a memorial in honor of Miguel Albarrán, 30-year-old dealer who lost his life in a traffic accident near the Frida-Kahlo museum, In the south.
The driver who hit him was drunk, Gomez denounces before a white backpack tied to a tree. “This cannot go unpunished,” he claims.
Other dangers threaten the delivery men of this chaotic city in which between nine and ten million inhabitants live and double if metropolitan municipalities are added.
A 34-year-old who presents herself as an unemployed worker claims that in 2020, when the pandemic began, was kidnapped during a delivery in the exclusive Polanco sector.
“He is a person who has a lot of money and influence,” says the young woman. “He offered me a job. It was the hook for me to enter his apartment. I said no, “he says, assuring that he threatened to kill her.
“The platform did absolutely nothing. I did not denounce it because the authorities in Mexico do nothing, “adds the young woman, lamenting that in the applications of the services there is no channel for delivery men to complain about abusive customers.
In the absence of a complaint, it is impossible to confirm the version with the authorities.
In March 2020, when the pandemic began and the orders on the platforms multiplied, the security firm Grupo Alfa warned in a statement that the delivery men were kidnapped by criminals who forced them to reveal customer data, which became potential target of criminals. (I)
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