By Yvonne Atilego
Workers on digital platforms, including UBER, BOLT, GLOVO, JUMIA among others have raised concerns about their remuneration and Conditions of Service, which they describe as poor and nothing to write home about.
The online workers say apart from the fact that they work long hours with no justifiable reward, they are also exposed to all manner of threats, making their work extremely difficult.
They, therefore, want some measures in place to protect their work. These concerns were raised during a workshop organised by Fairwork Ghana, an international research project which highlights best labour practices in the digital space.
During the engagement, the online workers were given the opportunity to share experiences of some of the hazards associated with their work. This ranges from long hours of work, poor pay, unfair contracts among others. They want policies that will make their work decent in terms of income and taking into account their health and safety.
Francis Tengey who is President of Online Drivers Union was worried about bonus packages designed for Drivers on the various platforms.
According to him, Drivers are expected to work for some hours to get those bonuses with too many conditions attached.
“The Online platform is charging Hundred Ghana cedis, at the end of the day the driver is not making anything. So we the platform drivers are rather suffering, we are not treated well, there is no consideration,” Mr Tengey complained.
“I have been attacked before, they took my phone and my money away from me, the risk is very high,” one Driver, Ohemaa lamented.
Reacting to these concerns, Dr Lawrence Simpi of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations came up with measures the digital platforms can take advantage of, to safeguard workers in the digital space. He called for a comprehensive engagement between the workers and the various Apps to eject more fairness into their work.
“If you want to create decent jobs for Ghanaians, it means that you are looking for conditions under which they are working, and also their salaries and how they are determined,” he noted.
Dr Simpi called for a more simplified contractual agreement so that workers can understand what they are reading before signing on to it.
Fairwork Ghana is a project which highlights the best labour practices for workers on online platforms. Its goal is to show that better and fairer jobs are possible in the digital space.