Rappi gives in and agrees to labor improvements for its homes in Colombia

Almost a decade after its creation, and after 11 months of intense negotiations, those responsible for Rappi, the digital home delivery giant, and the union of technology platform workers (Unidapp) have reached a first agreement to improve conditions labor of the so-called 'rappitenderos'.

The news comes just one day after the Constitutional Court issued an angry decision against the first Colombian unicorn for having disabled a domiciliary resident from its platform without any explanation.

Two sides of the same reality that with this week's pact could begin to change for the almost 60,000 people who work with the application in Colombia.

The first achievement was from the Government of Gustavo Petro, by bringing the parties to the negotiating table.

It is told by the Vice Minister of Labor Relations, the former oil unionist Edwin Palma, who acted as mediator on behalf of his portfolio.

“At first there were obvious preventions, from side to side,” Palma recalls, “but as we moved forward, the culture of dialogue and mutual recognition prevailed.”

The first of the nine points included in the agreement establishes a guaranteed minimum rate per delivery person of 3,050 pesos (about 75 cents) per trip.

From the fourth kilometer traveled, the changes stipulate 64 additional pesos for every 100 meters completed by motorcycle or bicycle.

This is a series of achievements that set a precedent for labor relations in the universe of Latin American digital platforms.

For years, these companies and enterprises considered that their delivery drivers were not workers because they were free to accept or reject home delivery services through their applications.

Rappi still insists today that they are “collaborators.”

A label that is losing more and more validity: “That a digital platform like Rappi, which ensures that it does not have subordinate workers, sits down to negotiate a list of union demands, has a very great relevance for the region,” points out the lawyer and external advisor to the union Sandra Muñoz.

The second point that has emerged is the formal recognition of the Union of Platform Workers, Unidapp.

A progress that ends the historic rupture between the parties and contemplates an “annual contribution” by Rappi to the union of 15 million pesos (a little less than 4,000 dollars) allocated to social security and health issues.

He also establishes the figure of the “Deliverer's Defender”, a kind of

ombudsman

who will ensure within the company the rights of the deliverers, who have always complained about precariousness.

“This series of aspects constitutes a milestone in collective bargaining with digital companies that should be reproduced in other countries in the region,” says Juan Manuel Ottaviano, a Uruguayan expert in labor law.

Dozens of Rappi delivery drivers and other platforms demonstrate in Bogotá, in March 2022.Juancho Torres (Getty Images)

After the 'boom' of the home delivery business during the pandemic, in which millions of people were forced to use its services from home, the venture has undergone a process of adjustment in its model.

Furthermore, it is worth remembering that during some of the social outbreaks in recent years in the region, protesters revealed citizen discontent with the operation of digital businesses that in their opinion are not socially profitable.

In most cases, they have not been at the business level either.

In addition, complaints from users dissatisfied with the service, either because the food arrives late, or because it arrives cold, or because of the poor use of their personal data, has also led Rappi to promote a change in its development, as well as to expand the product portfolio in a good part of the 205 cities on the continent where it operates: “I believe that this opens the door for there to be a domino effect in the other countries where it operates,” says innovation expert, Iván Hässig.

Vice Minister Palma acknowledges that the negotiations, which were held almost entirely at the Labor headquarters, had very tense moments.

The most acute of them, perhaps, at the end of March or beginning of April 2023, when the news about the content of the labor reform proposal of the Government of Gustavo Petro indicated that the platforms must ensure all the benefits and labor aid required by law.

Those responsible for the

app

then assured that under those parameters that forced Rappi to recognize the employment relationship, 90% of the residents would be left without income.

As if that were not enough, at the end of that same March the Ministry of Labor announced that it would promote an investigation into the working conditions of the

startup

.

It did so through the Pension and Parafiscal Management Unit (UGPP), in charge of inspecting that the company complied with all the requirements to operate a

battalion

of thousands of independent workers: “As they are independent, what I am going to corroborate is that they are.

In Colombia, every independent worker has to fill out an Integrated Contribution Settlement Form (PILA) and the person who hires him or her has to provide the account of the form and we see if it is true that it is being fulfilled,” the Minister of Labor, Gloria, warned then. Ines Ramirez.

Ramírez, a seasoned communist politician, finally reached an agreement that reassured Unidapp representatives.

“That paved the way a little bit.

Although the first thing we did in the first agreement in March of last year was to remove the Labor Reform or the debate about whether there was an employment relationship from the discussion.

We look at the rates, we look at the due process, the security conditions, or the issue of blockades and we agree on that,” Palma details.

Iván Jiménez, professor at the Labor Observatory of the Javeriana University, remembers few similar agreements worldwide: “Perhaps some in Spain or the United Kingdom.

Or Uber in the United States.

But this is a very interesting case of social dialogue between a delivery company and non-independent workers.”

In his opinion, this is an alternative way to “build agreements that benefit everyone,” beyond opening the doors for formalization within the traditional framework.

In exchange, the company will have better tools to understand what factors people value most to feel comfortable when providing their services.

Jiménez concludes: “In the world we live in, and as things advance with technological platforms, an employment contract is no longer the only guarantee of happiness at work.”

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