On March 25, 2021, the Rights Defense Network was informed of the case of Chen Guojiang, the “alliance leader” of the Beijing Takeaway Riders Union and a takeaway boy rights defender, and now informs the following.
On March 24, 2021, lawyers met with Chen Guojiang, the “alliance leader”. It is reported that the lawyer said Chen Guojiang is in good mental condition, and the case is still in the investigation stage, waiting for the public security authorities to send the prosecution and arrest. On March 17, Chen Guojiang’s Family received a notice of criminal detention for allegedly provoking trouble and is currently being held in Beijing’s Chaoyang District Detention Center.
Chen Guojiang: born in 1990, a native of Guizhou province, alias Chen Tianhe, Xiong Yan, also known as Chen Sheng by take-away riders and labor movement supporters, earlier worked as a street vendor and construction site porter, a former restaurant owner of a hotel in Beijing, the national famous take-away platform “Meituan “and hungry” Beijing courier. The “delivery jianghu knight alliance” WeChat group organizer, Beijing take-away knight alliance “He is a human rights defender, a human rights defender, and a human rights defender in detention in China.
Born in a rural family in Guizhou province, he spent his childhood in frequent arguments between his Parents; in the fifth grade, he dropped out of school due to poverty, and then lived on street stalls and bricklaying on construction sites; he then moved to Beijing and has been a northern drifter ever since.
In 2009, he was employed by a restaurant to deliver Food full-Time; later, he started to create a web version of a food ordering website, contracted the ordering business of all the nearby Internet cafes, and used the accumulated savings to open a small restaurant.
From 2015-2018, he opened another larger restaurant, but was forced to turn into a delivery boy due to long-term operating losses, and as a result, his wife divorced him and married another with their young son.
2019 onwards, had because in the delivery work found that the survival environment of riders is very poor, the unit price of delivery services declining, no rest days, accidents are frequent but not protected, no voice, so with rider friends to form a “delivery jianghu knight alliance “WeChat group, it is the “alliance”; during this period In October 2019, he recorded more than 100 videos to tell the society about the encounters and heartaches of delivery riders, hoping to win support and attention.
In October 2019, because the take-out platform uniformly lowers the unit price of rider delivery, in order to defend the rights and interests of take-out riders, he strongly supported the mobilization of riders to refuse to take orders, saying that the first 3 days do not send “Meituan “The next 3 days not to send “hungry”, and let them print their own notice, posted on the back of the take-out box; however, the leaflet has not been issued, its spin was arrested by the Beijing police, a total of 26 days of detention.
In February 2021, Beijing take-away couriers in order to make a living and respond to the Epidemic prevention and control in place for the New Year, continue to stay in Beijing to work to run orders, but because of the “hungry”, “Meituan” and other takeaway “Meituan” and other takeaway platforms deliberately set extra super workload in order to make the couriers fail to complete the task and be deducted bonuses, they are once again organizing peer boycotts to pursue justice The takeaway platform squeezed the labor rights of riders, but was soon suppressed, and a number of couriers were arrested by the police in Chaoyang District, Beijing, for unclear reasons, and have not been released.
It is widely suspected that the “Delivery Riders Union” group, which has tens of thousands of riders in contact with it, has become a substantial “union” for delivery riders. He was arrested because his group, the “Delivery Riders Union,” had contacted tens of thousands of riders and had become so influential that it was essentially a “labor union” and human rights organization for delivery riders.
He is currently detained at Beijing Chaoyang District Detention Center (29 Chaoyang North Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100023).
Xiong Yan is not tall, his eyebrows are habitually squeezed together, he was busy delivering takeaways before, but now he has become half a netizen doing short videos, and is “on fire” and even busier, spending several Hours a day to reply to WeChat, reception of fans around the country online and offline greetings.
The day we met, he just went to deal with a “brother”, the other is a rider alliance group of people, delivery was hit by a car in the opposite direction, as the “master”, he went to deal with a “brother”. As the “alliance leader”, he coordinated two other brothers nearby to help.
In Beijing Shilihe subway station near the snack bar, he saw another delivery man, “brother”, he hurriedly greeted people to sit down and eat together. Only after a few words did he realize that people didn’t know him at all. “Have you ever added my WeChat before? Have not added it, hurry up and add”, he clicked on the phone screen, open the QR code interface, handed over.
He came to Beijing at the age of 17. In the past 13 years, he worked as a guard at a construction site, opened a small store without a license and made money, but his business mismanagement in 2018 left him with more than 1 million yuan of foreign debt and began to deliver takeaways. He gathered online knight alliance, close to 5,000 people, trying to create a platform to help each other, but also actively use new media voice, using public opinion and attention to defend the rights of the group of take-away workers.
He has the cunning and the simplest sense of justice that he has developed in the jungle, and as a result, many unfamiliar riders are willing to trust him. Xiong Yan said he only has an elementary school Education, and a lot of the processing comes from his own experience. He is well aware that the takeaway group is unlikely to have the ability to bargain with the platform due to different demands, small upward mobility and lack of elite. But as far as the eye can see, the connection between these 11 WeChat groupies is a tiny, precious attempt as a laborer.
The following is Xiong Yan’s account.
The Missing Lead
Unlike white-collar workers who sit in offices, we, as a group, often have access to the Internet, microblogs, knowledge and Culture, and can speak out. Many of our brothers don’t even have microblogs and are not good at expressing themselves, with limited cultural knowledge and limited cognition. Like this discussion on the topic of take-out system, we are in the center of public opinion, but we can only see the opinions of others, experts, scholars, nothing about us.
The delivery boy seems to have no right to speak, no one can hear what we say, and even if we do, it will disappear into the sea of people. The heat is off, and no one wants to pay attention. The takeaway workers around me also spit out a bit, or have to continue to work.
In fact, whether it is the “eight minutes” or hungry “five minutes” (Note: two takeaway platforms in the controversy issued a statement, the United States Mission said it will give riders to stay 8 minutes of flexible time, hungry said it will add a settlement payment) “I’m willing to wait 5 minutes more / 10 minutes” small button), we currently do not feel any change. Delivery of the length of the single, while taking orders, rewards and punishments rules, there is no change, only hungry overtime fines seem to have become less, before if overtime 20 minutes on the deduction, but now it seems to give a little money.
Mission’s so-called “8 minutes” is just time to move from the rider’s interface to the customer’s cell phone. For example, if you order a meal, the phone shows 30 minutes to deliver, but in our delivery system, 38 minutes to deliver is not considered late. Now it’s just that the customer can see the existence of these 8 minutes, and the time given to the rider is not extended.
In fact, the rider’s goal is simple: to increase revenue. It would be safer to limit the number of orders taken at the same time, but there would definitely be riders who would object because that would reduce revenue and a better way would be to increase the unit price. I remember when I first started in the winter of 2018 there was almost $8 a single and now it’s only $5.80. In order to maintain the previous level of income, riders have to fight to take orders and increase their working hours.
It feels like we’re not stuck in the system, we’re stuck in the platform’s rut. All the rules are set by them, and the takeaways have no choice at all. It’s a cheap labor force, and for the platform, if one person quits, there will be countless others coming in, with even less scruples.
In the winter of 2018, I just started working as a delivery person not long after a car accident during the delivery process, in time for the New Year, and the other party was kind enough to pay me a few thousand dollars, enough to pay the hospital bill. But then I went to appeal to the insurance side, only to learn that the process is so troublesome, and less than 10,000 yuan people do not give claims. Our insurance is 3 dollars per day, as long as the start of work to receive the first order, the system will automatically deduct the insurance premium.
At that time, a person living in the hospital, it is not good to notify the family, after losing money in business, is also the fall of a sinking ship, feeling quite lonely, and think we must meet more friends. Later, the platform lowered the order price, originally a week of 400 rewards also reduced to 200 yuan, many brothers are complaining, the leader kicked them out of the work group. I was more active in the group, and then the brothers said, why not get an alliance to help each other.
Then I got the billboard, printed a WeChat two-dimensional code, paste in the back of the electric car delivery box, the group name is called Knight Alliance. This slowly every day there are 30 to 40 people add me, the group will be more. Now there are a total of 11 WeChat groups, several thousand brothers. I wrote my initial thoughts and expectations in the WeChat group announcement: whether you run hungry Meituan crowdsourcing Hummingbird crowdsourcing or team, flash delivery, Dada, or SF, we are a jungle. The purpose is unity, mutual assistance, friendship, inspiration, sharing, and win-win. If you ask, you will answer, you will respond. Meet on the road, say hello to each other. Big things become small, small things become small.
Since March this year, I opened various platforms such as ShakeYin, Racer, Weibo, public number, etc. I made some short videos myself, spreading what we want to say ourselves and the things encountered by the takeaway group as much as possible, hoping that netizens can hear the most real voice. I’ve helped brothers who are owed wages to defend their rights, and will also shoot some of the things around the brothers were pitted to remind people not to fall for it.
There are a lot of kind-hearted people who are concerned about us take-away boys. It may not really change the general trend, I can only do my best to make some noise in our so-called jungle, as to whether it can change, this can not hold too much hope. But at least you can do something, do something to have hope.
Jianghu Alliance
We generally get together once a month, dozens of people participate, most of them are local takeaway workers in Beijing, before there is also a special run from Shenzhen, or by plane. Since I started posting videos online, many strangers came to me, wanting me to introduce them to delivery, many from outside the country, I introduced them to rent affordable housing, within 2000 per month. There was a college-educated girl who approached me, saying she wanted to be a delivery person, and I took her on a two-day run, and she quit, too tired.
I just went to the six mile bridge today to deal with a matter, a brother riding an electric bike normal driving, and then others against the traffic to hit him. I went to the traffic police to open the traffic accident certification, the other party is fully responsible. I called two alliance brothers over there, one sent him to the hospital, the other brother sent him back to the merchant without sending that (single).
The short video is also a bit useful. The day before yesterday, I helped a brother in the Mission dry special delivery sent a short video, he started on August 1, September 14, took leave to go Home, the station also agreed, the station manager called him back, he had things in his hometown can not return, the results came back a few days late, the station manager told him that he was automatically separated, not a penny of salary to him. I helped him recommend a lawyer, who told him to look for the supervisory brigade, which told him to look for the labor department, and the mediation did not yield any results. I shot a video, sent to the snapshot only a dozen hours, there are 180,000 plays, the station manager gave the salary to the end of August, gave most of it. Because if not resolved will affect the reputation of the site, they are not good recruiters.
I only have a 5th grade culture, help everyone coordinate many things are relying on their own experience. A female rider in the alliance sent a message asking me to go over, her place is far from me, there are more than ten kilometers, I arrived when the traffic police have come over, gave her a traffic accident liability bill, ruled that the little girl is fully responsible. She was hit a railing, but also not broken, the place of security to find the little girl to 2500 yuan compensation.
The railing interface is originally wrapped with tape, the security guards are lion, to how much is how much. Online I checked, the most expensive railing is only 7, 80 dollars, I said to take the little girl away, they do not want to, reported to the police. The police said to take to the police station mediation, she a little girl, and do not understand, and scared, not two words to compensate people 230 yuan.
To be honest, you should pay, because after all, hit, the traffic police have given you the accident responsibility list, indeed the responsibility of the little girl, we made a mistake must bear the cost, but this cost to be within a reasonable range.
Because of the alliance, I have also been in the detention center. Last year, before the double 11, Meituan and hungry unit prices are falling, riders are complaining. I said in the group, or in a certain area, we do not take orders, the first three days do not send Mission, the next three days do not send hungry, send delivery brothers in the back of the box on the notice, so that the words can attract the attention of the community, to attract the attention of the platform.
Leaflets have not been issued, the police found me, criminal detention, 26 days, this is really beyond my expectations. Fortunately, we have not yet acted, no real impact and loss, if the effect, I guess and you can not talk.
Dealing with the Union brothers is indeed a delay in their own time, so what do you do, we are quite difficult for these brothers, after all, in this strange city well. This group of people is very lonely, and not much friends. Some people told me that he was embarrassed to tell people that he was a delivery, feel ashamed, I think delivery is good, we do not steal or rob, earn money by themselves, what is there?
At the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, several of our brothers did not send takeaway, gathered a little, in the rental house to buy their own food and cooking. Buy two pounds of shrimp, cooked a large pot of ribs, a pot are a bit too much to fill. Usually we will also have a party, sometimes their entire stereo, to the park to sing K.
The WeChat group is very lively every day, with many riders sharing their delivery experiences, what orders they have received, what orders they are late for, or what odd customers they have met. Those who didn’t know where the delivery address was would send screenshots and ask in the group, and those who knew would reply to him.
A short transition
The really smart people are not in the takeaway industry for a long time. People come and go. The platform rules are not that concerned, insurance or anything, and do not care, are to make quick money. The demands of everyone are not the same, many people are only thinking about honestly making some money and forget about it, not much else, it is difficult to unite.
The key problem is still the rules of the platform. Take the most often encountered situation, the contradiction between the rider and the merchant, mainly because the merchant is slow to deliver meals. The platform only suggests how much time the merchant has to deliver the meal, but there is no limit. The rules are that you report to the store 15 minutes later you can kick out that order, kick to other riders, not to send that single. Hungry is that you must report three times, one is to the store five minutes, a ten minutes, a fifteen minutes, report three times before you can cancel, but the cancellation will have to fine you money.
After the fine you then appeal will be particularly troublesome, to write a lot of words, which riders have that time, it is better to run a few more orders. And you can not wait for the 15 minutes, because you an order on the 30 minutes, 40 minutes of the deadline, you received an order to run to the store after 15 minutes, other orders will be overtime. The rider is very irritable, frantic to find the merchant, so the fight often happens.
I’ve owned small restaurants that deliver fast food before, and I can understand these businesses. They just need to get the food done, the rider’s time has nothing to do with them. I used to argue with the riders when I opened the store, I couldn’t understand why they were in such a hurry, but now I really understand.
I have also encountered a particularly odd customer. It was over 30 degrees in the summer and a customer asked me to buy an apron, but there was no color she liked, so she had to return the order. You said I ran several kilometers to buy, if the refund I will not get a penny, but also wasted more than an hour of time. I said how about you pay a 10 yuan running fee, she complained about me with this, blocking the number for three days.
There is also a customer who lives in Baiziwan Coastal Selocheng, the address was written on a map of Baiziwan East Lane Building 4, I called her, she said she had always written that address. I wandered around there for half a day, resulting in 5 orders that were overdue and definitely no money to take. When I finally sent it to her, I searched the map for her in person and there was no that address. On the way back, she called me and said she wanted to complain about me on the grounds of poor service.
It really can be devastating you know? I previously opened a store loss of more than 1 million, and then I have been thinking, is not 50 yuan, it does not matter, but the heart really can not get over that hurdle, really will be particularly depressed. I can still comfort myself, if it is a more emotional overreaction, there may be extreme events.
The customer has the right to complain, the business has the right to complain, the delivery staff is caught in the middle, the platform’s punishment mechanism and tend to them, the complaint through rate of more than 90%. If you complain you have to write the reason, like me, low literacy level, not necessarily write out, is to write out also very waste of time.
It’s very difficult for takeaway workers to defend their rights without their own organization. Honestly, I used to think it was useful to do this coalition, to do all this resistance, but now I don’t think it’s useful. I understand that this thing can not change the general environment, it is impossible to have bargaining power with the platform, but at least I can change the people and things around me. It’s nice to be able to help the people around me.
I was approached by a law firm who said they could give free advice to riders and would advance some money to help riders if necessary. For example, if a rider is hit by a car and is hospitalized in a hurry, and they don’t pay, the insurance company will let the rider go to the doctor first, and then take the details of the invoice to reimburse him after the doctor is done.
I feel that this is also a good program for our riders, so I agreed. I also made a request to design a small program for us, which has a second-hand trading platform that allows brothers to sell lithium batteries, trams and other things. In May and June of this year, the program was already online.
Of course, to help others is to help themselves, I help brothers to buy or rent lithium batteries, the manufacturer will give me a rebate of 50 yuan each, and I did not hide from everyone.
I now have more than 1 million in debt, slowly pay it back, the next may still do business, the other night to see a big boss worth tens of millions, he asked me to do with him, do the car service section, he paid for me to open a store, is to listen to his words, I did not agree. I want to be free, people are not a lifetime of freedom, how to live how to live.
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