Organizations representing the interests of motorcyclists who work as “partner drivers” for ride-hailing services Go-Jek and Grab have been threatening for weeks to stage a massive protest on August 18, the opening day of the Asian Games being co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang, unless their demands for higher wages are met.
After many meetings between representatives the driver organizations, Go-Jek, Grab, and government officials, both Grab and Go-Jek announced in the last week that they would be raising their tariffs (although they denied this was due to the drivers demands, instead characterizing them as routine price adjustments).
Despite that, representatives of the Two-Wheel Action Movement Presidium (Garda), one of the main driver activist groups, say that the fare hikes are not enough and they were still planning on holding their potentially disastrously disruptive demonstration on Saturday.
Go-Jek recently announced a rate hike that would increase the average per kilometer rate for drivers from IDR1,600 (US$0.11) to IDR2,200-3,300 for short distance rides. Garda representative Igun Wicaksono said that Go-Jek’s tariff increase still fell short of their demands, which was IDR3,000-4,000 per kilometer.
“Actually, they are not raising it enough because the tariff is still below our demands. This is still below (the tariff rate during) the 2012-2015 period. We will not stop until our demands that they return to the initial tariff rate are met,” Igun said when contacted by Kompas yesterday.
Igun said that Go-Jek’s new tariff scheme did not take into account the investments made by partner drivers such as the costs of repairing their motorcycles, servicing them, driver health costs, etc. He said that Garda was still in communication with Go-Jek and Grab to discuss their demands.
“We see that they still have good faith, we are still waiting to see their final intentions so that the Asian Games will not be disturbed because this is a shared responsibility,” Igun added.
Garda previously made similar statement about Grab’s rate hike of IDR1,600-2,300 per kilometer over short distances, saying it was not enough to give drivers a livable wage.
Garda and other driver organizations have staged numerous protests this year demanding rate hikes as well as other employment benefits. During a major demonstration in front of the Presidential Palace in April involving thousands of drivers, President Joko Widodo himself met with representatives from the driver’s side and instructed his transportation and IT ministers to meet with representatives of Go-Jek and Grab to find a solution. The companies made tentative promises to increase their tariffs upon review, but have yet to make any major rate hikes, claiming that increases in fares would lead to lower demand and lower overall salaries for drivers.
Both Go-Jek and Grab have raised billions of dollars in investments to fuel their competition for market share in Indonesia and throughout the region, with Go-Jek raising over US$1 billion this year alone from numerous investors including Google.
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