Didi creates union, setting precedent for Xi’s worker agenda

NEW YORK: Didi Global Inc is helping workers establish their first union, a groundbreaking decision its fellow tech giants may soon follow as China imposes rules to curb excessive work and protect millions of blue-collar workers from exploitation.

The Beijing-based ride-hailing giant announced the creation of the union on an internal forum last week without specifics, according to people familiar with the matter.

Didi drivers – mostly part-time and lacking full employee benefits – will likely be invited to join, one of the people said, requesting anonymity discussing private information.

Peers including food delivery leader Meituan are also studying the feasibility of internal labour rights organisations, another person said. Employees from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd have posted calls for the formation of a union on their own company forum, a third person said.

Billionaire Richard Liu’s e-commerce empire JD.com Inc also established a union this week, the Workers’ Daily, the official newspaper of China’s umbrella union organisation, reported late Wednesday.

Tech giants like Didi are responding to regulators’ demands that sharing-economy behemoths improve the welfare of millions of low-wage workers they depend on to power growth.

That stems from president Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” campaign to get the private sector to share the enormous wealth accumulated during a decade-long Internet boom, while reining in their growing influence.

In Didi’s case, the move may curry favour with Beijing at a time it’s said to be fighting to ensure its survival after forging ahead with a US$4.4bil (RM18.30bil) initial public offering over regulators’ objections.

While embryonic – and a reversal of the usual bottom-up process of change – support for effective unions marked a significant step for China’s hard-charging tech industry. The mobile boom has minted an unprecedented amount of tech billionaires from Alibaba’s Jack Ma to Didi’s Cheng Wei and Wang Xing of Meituan, many of whom are now keen to show they’re giving back. Didi’s shares surged 12% in New York, leading a rally in Chinese tech stocks.

Gig-economy workers from Silicon Valley to India have in recent years become increasingly vocal in protesting their rights, gaining the attention of politicians. In China, the issue came to the fore more recently, following years of breakneck expansion by the likes of Meituan, Alibaba, Full Truck Alliance Co and Pinduoduo Inc into fledgling arenas from community commerce to meals and grocery delivery.

Didi and Alibaba didn’t respond to written inquiries seeking comment. A Meituan representative didn’t comment on unions but said in an emailed statement it was focused on listening to and helping out its delivery riders.

Didi, now under investigation over data privacy violations, made its internal announcement just after China’s top court and labour ministry published a lengthy essay outlining 10 cases – including but not limited to the tech industry – in which employees were forced to work extra hours or put in harm’s way, using real and richly detailed court disputes to demonstrate how to fight against labour rights violations.

The essay was viewed as a fresh warning toward tech’s heavyweights, many of which are known for punishing demands and unreasonable overtime. It added to the challenges for an industry already weathering heightened scrutiny over everything from their troves to data to endemic issues such as forced drinking during official functions.

China’s tech workers face immense pressure to log long hours to meet exacting deadlines while often lacking legal recourse – in contrast with Silicon Valley, where icons have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits filed by workers.” ― Bloomberg