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Description

On 18 July 2018, the municipal administration of Milan inaugurated the first office in Italy dedicated to ‘listening, information and advice’ for workers of food delivery platforms. 

Following consultations with riders trade unions and other local associations, the riders` points were activated to collect information on platform workers and to provide them with informational resources.

The point:

• provides information to the riders about issues such as Italian legislation, working conditions and social security.
• collects information at the municipal level about riders (language, education, age, occupation).
• introduced a one-off structural survey (November 2018 – January 2019) in collaboration with the university of Milan to collect information on platform workers in Milan. The survey found that about 80% of riders are migrants, young males (between 21 to 29 years old), with limited knowledge of the Italian language or legislation, traffic laws and hygienic conditions. Moreover, it found that work through platforms is their main, if not the only, source of income and the workers often accept exploitative working conditions. Very few riders are women and on average they have a higher level of education compared to their male counterparts.
• aims to provide space In Milan for riders to use during downtime. Since most riders live in the periphery of Milan and move to the centre of the city for deliveries, they do not have a place to stay during the afternoon, when typically, there are fewer or no deliveries.
• distributed safety kits containing masks and latex gloves. To avoid any gathering and proceed with an orderly distribution, the operation was organized in alphabetical order with daily quantities defined in agreement with the main food delivery companies operating in the city. In the kits made available by the administration, in addition to the tools useful for their own personal safety and that of others, riders also find an information leaflet in Italian, English, Spanish and French with the main indications for dealing with the Covid-19 emergency. This included instructions on how to correctly use personal protective equipment, requests to avoid gatherings while waiting both at restaurants and in meeting places as well as information on compliance requirements with the social rules in interactions with operators and end customers.

In addition, the initiative maintains links to a separate riders’ point, initiated by the trade union CGIL and organized within the labour union centre in Milan. This separate CGIL riders’ point goes beyond the services provided by the municipal riders’ point by providing advice, assisting workers to negotiate working conditions and seeking to collectively organize platform workers. The riders’ point by the Milan municipality directs workers to the trade union’s riders’ point when they are seeking to collectively organize or need advice to access social protection. The two points also collaborated with each other during the distribution of masks during the pandemic.

The CGIL riders’ point in Milan has taken several actions including:

• Initiating a dialogue with workers.
• Implementing a national campaign called “Noisy Riders” by CGIL. The campaign involved the creation of stands in squares in large cities to distribute security kits and talk to workers.
• Advising platform workers with regard to their contract type. Furthermore, weekly meetings are held provide workers information on dealing with VAT payments.
• Seeking to establish rules on sanitary measures with the municipality.

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Additional metadata

Keywords

information asymmetry, platformisation of work

Actors

Government

Sector

Transportation and storage