Constant worry when there is no social insurance, health insurance
Working as a technology motorbike taxi driver for 5 years, Mr. Phan Kim Phung (Thoi An ward, Ho Chi Minh City) often drives more than 10 hours a day, eats irregularly and faces many risks on the road. Every time he is exhausted or sick and has to rest for a few days, he loses his income, while the cost of medical examination and treatment must be fenced for himself.
I hope that our technology drivers will soon participate in compulsory social insurance and health insurance to have a "social security net" to protect them when they are sick and most importantly, to have a pension when they are old, without having to worry about becoming a burden for their children and society" - Mr. Phung shared.
In the same situation, Mr. Ho Vinh Thanh (Phu Lam ward, Ho Chi Minh City) has been a technology motorbike taxi driver for 12 years to cover living expenses and take care of his children's education. Every day he drives for more than 8 hours, earning about 200,000-300,000 VND, equivalent to around 10 million VND/month. Although it is enough for basic expenses, the lack of social security guarantees still makes him uneasy.
According to Mr. Thanh, drivers travel frequently, so they always face the risk of accidents and health incidents. Meanwhile, insurance supported by the company only covers a small part, and most of the hospital fees drivers have to pay themselves. When they have to take leave for treatment, they also lose their income, making life even more difficult.
Therefore, Mr. Thanh also really wants to participate in compulsory social insurance and health insurance soon to reduce the burden, not to be financially exhausted if unfortunately encountering illness, accidents and having a pension is a practical "backing point" for the future, when the age is old and no longer strong enough to endure rain and sun on the streets.
Ensuring social security, better for drivers and society
Mr. Le Tan Luu - Chairman of Binh Tan Technology Motorbike Taxi Union - said that the union currently has more than 1,000 union members operating on technology application platforms such as Grab, Be... and all are not participating in compulsory social insurance and health insurance like workers (NLĐ) in other industries and fields.
Because they are not required to participate in compulsory social insurance and health insurance, if unfortunately employees get sick or have accidents, they have to pay for treatment themselves, which is very expensive while there is no income during the holidays. Many cases that require large treatment costs are mainly contributed by union members in the spirit of mutual support, because the union's budget is small because the union does not collect union fees from union members to reduce the financial burden for low-income and unstable labor forces.
Activities to care for and support union members are mainly carried out through social mobilization sources, the companionship of units and businesses and support from the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation at the end of the year or major holidays and events. Therefore, the ability to proactively implement regular social security programs of trade unions is still limited.
Mr. Luu said that surveys show that most union members want to participate in compulsory social insurance like employees in other types of labor to enjoy benefits such as illness, work accident, pension... However, some businesses providing technology application platforms all identify the relationship between businesses and drivers as a business cooperation relationship under a partnership model and drivers are not employees under labor contracts with businesses. Therefore, there is currently no legal basis for businesses to fulfill social security obligations to partners, such as participating in compulsory social insurance, health insurance or other welfare benefits for employees.
Meanwhile, the development or unification of social security policies for drivers on technology platforms is still limited and exceeds the authority of trade unions.
If the State stipulates that businesses using technology platforms must participate in compulsory social insurance for partners who are actually also workers, union members will be very happy. When they are guaranteed daily and future social security, the lives of these workers will be more stable and better for the whole society in the long term" - Mr. Luu said.
