On October 8, more than 100 women beauty workers gathered outside the head office of Urban Company in Gurgaon to protest against their wor...
On October 8, more than 100 women beauty workers gathered outside the head office of Urban Company in Gurgaon to protest against their work conditions. The firm, an on-demand platform for home-based services, initially responded by clamping down on protesters, threatening to block their IDs and inviting police action on them.
After continued pressure from workers and media, the company reaffirmed its commitment to “giving a voice to the voiceless” and eventually announced some measures to partly meet workers’ demands.
This was arguably the first widely-reported instance of women working with digital platforms publicly organising to take collective action. A deeper look at their demands sheds light on the gendered nature of work under India’s much-lauded tech startups.
Women’s labour market decisions are structured around trade-offs between paid work and unpaid care work at home. They also face constraints around physical mobility, security and negative familial attitudes towards their work. Digital platforms have been touted as game-changers that will increase women’s workforce participation and earnings, because of the flexibility their model offers to workers to control their work.
1. We are in full support and solidarity with Urban Company women workers. Strike against the @urbancompany_UC protesting low wages, high commissions collected by the firm and poor safety...
