App drivers protest against bill that regulates the category | Rio de Janeiro

Category is against the labor regulations proposed by the Federal GovernmentReginaldo Pimenta / Agência O Dia

Published 03/26/2024 07:51 | Updated 03/26/2024 13:51

Rio – App drivers hold a demonstration, this Tuesday (26), against the bill proposed by the federal government that creates a package of labor rights for the category. The motorcade, which has hundreds of vehicles, left Santos Dumont Airport and headed to the center of Rio. The group occupied a lane on Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos.

Drivers got out of their cars to protest, holding banners and posters saying: “We drivers are against PL 12/2024” and “We want fair rates per km/min”. The Municipal Guard, Military Police and CET-Rio accompanied the demonstration.

The strike, organized by the Federation of Drivers for Apps in Brazil (Fembrapp), takes place across the country and seeks to draw attention to drivers’ concerns regarding the proposed regulations. The bill that creates labor rights for app drivers was met with a series of criticisms from groups representing the class.

PL 12/2024 creates the figure of the “platform self-employed worker”, does not provide for an employment relationship between driver and companies, stipulates a minimum value for remuneration per hour of running, includes drivers who are required to contribute to Social Security and determines negotiation via collective agreements.

Thiago Velasco has been an app driver for eight years and was at the demonstration. He is one of the organizers of the movement. According to him, the project does not bring benefits to the category. “We want to be heard, but we are not. This union does not represent us because we carried out a national survey where 95% voted against PL 12/2024. This project does not add anything, we did not have any benefits. We will earn less and we will pay the cap maximum tax, it’s total madness”, he explained to DAY.

Leandro Cavalcante, 43 years old, has been an app driver for seven years and for him, the cost of the vehicle has increased and his remuneration has decreased. “The driver is not against the regulations, especially because we are exploited. The point is that the main demands we ask for concern the fare. Firstly, payment per km/min, in addition to a fair value of the minimum fare and thirdly, a criterion of annual adjustment. It is important to highlight that 7 years ago the value of CNG was R$ 1.80 and increased to R$ 4.50. Furthermore, a car that was R$ 35 thousand, is now R$ 70 thousand. Today, We earn less than we did back then because the cost has increased and our remuneration has decreased”, he said.

The main criticism among workers in the category is that the PL establishes a minimum value of R$32.09 per hour worked, while limiting the maximum working time per day. According to data from StopClub, a startup that offers safety and financial performance tools for app drivers, this is the average amount received by drivers today.

The data shows that the daily cost of a driver is around R150.58 per day worked or R16.13 per hour online on apps. Considering that the driver spends 60% of the time online while traveling, his cost is R 26.88 per hour worked.

For drivers, the established minimum value is not enough to cover the costs of maintaining and using a car. They also fear that platforms will adjust workers’ earnings to pay only the minimum required by the government, that is, that they will transform the proposed floor into a salary ceiling. Another point to highlight is that the PL does not consider the cost per kilometer driven, unlike the regulation of taxi drivers. This can create situations in which a race generates losses or no profit for the driver.