HONG KONG (AP) – The e-commerce workers who kept China fed during the coronavirus pandemic, making their billionaire bosses even richer, are so dissatisfied with the payment and treatment that one of them set himself on fire in protest.
China’s internet industries have been known for long and demanding days. With millions of families confined to their homes, demand increased and employees delivered tons of vegetables, rice, meat, diapers and other supplies, often on board scooters that exposed them to the freezing cold of winter.
For white-collar workers in the technology sector, pay is better than in some sectors, but employees are generally expected to work 12 hours a day or more.
The human cost drew public attention after the death of two employees of the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, known for selling fresh products at low prices. Their deaths suggested that they were overwhelmed. In a statement of great concern, the official Xinhua news agency called for a reduction in working hours, describing long overtime at the expense of employees’ health as an “illegal” operation.
Renewed concerns about poor working conditions for delivery drivers also surfaced when a video circulated on Chinese social media showing what it said was a driver for Ele.me, part of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, setting fire to himself to protest payment of wages.
The controversy is a blow to the image of the Internet industries that are transforming the Chinese economy and creating new jobs. They made some of the founders among the richest entrepreneurs in the world. During the height of the pandemic, the fortunes of the biggest, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang, increased with increasing consumer spending online.
In a video widely publicized on Chinese social media, Liu Jin, a 45-year-old delivery driver, dumped gas and burned himself outside an Eleme distribution station in the eastern city of Taizhou, shouting that he wanted his money. Others put out the flames and rushed him to a hospital, where he is being treated for third degree burns on his body.
The details of Liu’s complaint could not be verified and Eleme did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Separately, a 43-year-old delivery driver passed out at work and died last week while delivering food to Eleme.
The company said in a statement that it will give 600,000 yuan ($ 92,700) to the driver’s family and increased its insurance coverage for drivers at that level. The statement states that Eleme “has not done enough in terms of accidental death insurance and needs to do more”.
The issue was raised again after a Pinduoduo employee, surnamed Tan, committed suicide after leaving the company to return to his hometown, less than two weeks after a 22-year-old employee surnamed Zhang in Urumqi passed out while walking to home from work with colleagues. and then passed away.
Pinduoduo, China’s third largest e-commerce company, released statements saying it was providing assistance and support to the families of the two employees who died. Shanghai officials are also reviewing the company’s working hours, contracts and other conditions.
The deaths sparked protests on social media, with many people suspecting they were the result of overwork. Chinese social media users attacked the country’s technology sector, criticizing not only Pinduoduo for a long-time culture, but pointing out that this was an industry-wide problem, with similar business cultures seen in most major technology companies in the country. China.
They also revived a national debate about the so-called “996” work culture of the technology sector, in which employees usually work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Sometimes companies pay huge bonuses to some employees, encouraging them to work more overtime.
“We must strive to succeed in the pursuit of dreams, but the legitimate rights and interests of workers cannot be ignored or even violated,” said the state news agency Xinhua in a post on the microblog site Weibo.
The issue also highlighted the working conditions of delivery drivers, who are under strong pressure to place orders with customers quickly and sometimes earn less than 10 yuan ($ 1.55) per delivery. If deadlines are not met, the fines imposed can range from just 1 yuan ($ 0.15) to 500 yuan ($ 77.30) if a customer lodges a complaint.
As part of the gig economy, these delivery workers often do not receive the benefits offered to full-time employees, such as social or medical insurance.
As many people are willing to work in these conditions, it is difficult for employees to negotiate better wages and conditions.
Last August, the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) – the only union allowed to exist legally in China under Communist rule – said 6.5 million couriers have joined it since 2018. However, the group workers ‘rights China Labor Bulletin, which tracks labor relations in China, says little has been done to improve workers’ ability to get better treatment from companies. The union offers only professional training, legal assistance and some medical benefits.
“Unions need to become more effective, otherwise labor laws cannot be enforced,” said Li Qiang, founder of China Labor Watch, another organization that monitors labor rights.
According to China’s labor laws, workers and workers must not work more than eight hours a day, or more than 44 hours a week on average. The total amount of overtime must not exceed more than 36 hours per month, and must be done only “after consultation with the union and workers”.
However, while labor laws do exist, they are rarely enforced because employees are mired in a culture of overwork while fighting for bonuses or, in the case of delivery drivers, for a living.
Deliverers are part of a corporate culture in which even tech management employees work excessively long hours, Li noted.
“Employees who do not work overtime cannot survive in technology or white collar jobs. Everyone is working overtime. If they don’t work overtime, they’ll be fired, ”said Li.
Putting workers at an even greater disadvantage, severance clauses are sometimes included in workers’ contracts in some industries, exempting the company from liability for death at work and other similar events, said Li of China Labor Watch. While such clauses may violate China’s labor laws, the legal system in China is opaque and the laws can be difficult to enforce.
“In Western countries, if an employee dies from overtime, the legal and economic costs will be higher and will generally be more restrained, as the country’s laws will intervene,” said Li. “But in China there are no financial results when it is overtime and companies are generally not liable in the event of death. ”
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Associated Press researcher Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.