Sealing Wine | Labor News: Shantou Meituan Riders Strike Achieves Preliminary Victory

Source: Telegram “Workers’ News: Focus on Contemporary Workers”

Starting April 19th, more than a hundred Meituan riders in Shanwei, Guangdong, went on strike to protest the platform’s cancellation of multiple subsidies. Subsequently, Meituan dispatched a large number of riders from surrounding cities to deal with the strike.

Multiple videos circulating online show that after the Meituan riders went on strike, many were seen sitting idle on their electric bikes chatting, gathering in parks to use their phones, and even sitting by the river fishing. Mr. Chen, a 28-year-old rider, told reporters that most riders have accommodations in the local area and can accept “lying flat” without income for a period of time, but there are also riders with more difficult family situations who take on errands for other platforms to make a living.

In fact, the dispatched riders did not effectively “support Shanwei” as Meituan planned. Mr. Chen said that these out-of-town riders rarely came out to deliver orders, mostly staying in hotels, receiving a guaranteed income of 200 yuan/day, and did not have much conflict with the local riders. In addition, few local riders took this opportunity to desperately take orders. He said, “In small cities, many people are familiar with each other, and the brothers are more united.”

A week after the strike, Meituan made concessions and proposed a new salary plan. Mr. Chen said that Meituan announced that it would restore the canceled subsidies, increase short-term subsidies for the May Day holiday, restore the base unit price from 3.8 yuan to 5 yuan before the price reduction, and promised to establish a dialogue mechanism with the riders and not arbitrarily issue plans. That night, the out-of-town riders withdrew one after another, and some local riders resumed work.

However, many riders are not satisfied with Meituan’s promises, believing it is a “word game.” The situation of lower and lower unit prices and the sudden disappearance of subsidies has not changed. They do not believe that Meituan can fulfill its promises for a long time and do not know when Meituan will arbitrarily change its policies again.

Some riders accepted the plan that day and gradually resumed work, and the high-priced out-of-town riders also withdrew from Shanwei on the evening of the 26th. Nearly half of the riders were dissatisfied with the new plan given by the platform and refused to return to work. Many riders believe that Meituan “wins over a group and defeats another,” with the aim of dividing the riders, thereby “more reasonably exploiting” them. Many striking riders have been forcibly deleted from Meituan accounts and can no longer register as delivery riders.

In addition, Meituan issued a new “promotion and demotion mechanism” to encourage riders to stay and punish striking riders. According to the Meituan Shanwei branch’s “Notice” provided by Mr. Chen, riders with long working hours, many deliveries, high punctuality rates, and high praise rates in the past three months can be “promoted,” while those with the opposite will be “demoted,” and the rider’s rating will affect their order acceptance and subsidy unit price.

The reporter noticed that the notices and announcements of the Meituan Shanwei branch regarding the cancellation of subsidies and the setting up of a promotion and demotion mechanism did not have the company’s official seal, and the signature was “Distribution Department: Zhang Yunlong.” Mr. Chen explained that the stations of the Meituan outsourcing company manage them, and the official documents never have an official seal, “They say what they say, a one-size-fits-all approach.”