Earlier this month, Indonesia’s motorcycle taxi ride-hailing service Go-Jek recently announced that it had raised a massive US$550 million in funding from investors. However, there are reports that Go-Jek drivers in cities throughout the company are striking due to recent decreases in the fare the company pays its drivers.
Tempo reported that numerous drivers were conducting a demonstration at Go-Jek’s representative office in Bandung today as a result of a decrease in the company’s per kilometer rate.
“First it was Rp 4,000 in 2014. Then in 2015 it dropped to Rp 3,000, and at the beginning of 2016 it went down again to Rp 2,500, and three days ago to Rp 2,000,” said Asep, a field coordinator for the Bandung Go-Jek Drivers Association, as quoted by Tempo.
According to Asep, the rate cuts has had a significant impact on the daily income that Go-Jek drivers can make. At the current Rp 2,000 per kilometer rate, Asep said that driver only receive Rp 1,600 per kilometer because 20 percent of their income goes back to the company.
He said that before, drivers could earn Rp 50,000-100,000 per day, but now they could only expect to earn Rp 20,000 after paying for additional costs, such as phone credit and gas, that has to be borne by the drivers.
Similar strikes have been reported in other parts of Indonesia today. In Yogyakarta, thousands of Go-Jek drivers are supposedly refusing to work following a drop in the company’s rates over the weekend. In Bali and Medan, hundreds of drivers reportedly protested in front of the company’s local representative offices . Detik reports that smaller demonstration of about 80 drivers reportedly took place in front of the company’s headquarters in Kemang.
The vice chairman for the Bandung Go-Jek Drivers association, Bayu Irawan, said that they apologized to the customers for the inconvenience their strike has caused, but said they would continue to strike until the company’s management clarified their rate policy and hopefully return it to the previous Rp 3,000 per kilometer rate.
Member’s of the Bandung driver’s association already met with representatives of the company today who said that they would listen to their demands and get back to them with a response from Go-Jek’s main office in Jakarta as soon as possible.
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