From "not coming" to "best if you can"
Now, more voices are: "What if the people don't come? Who else can I call?"
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the number of employees of delivery workers on online platforms has grown significantly. According to the National Delivery Workers Industry Union, there will be more than 120,000 delivery workers in 2022. The operation of the delivery industry on emerging platforms often creates gray areas that are beyond the reach of laws and regulations, which is also reflected in the joint case “Requesting the Government to Legislate Special Laws to Protect Delivery Workers’ Rights and Interests” by the public policy online participation platform.
This proposal was seconded by 5,000 people at the beginning of this year. According to the procedure, it was voted by the Open Government Liaison Meeting and became the Open Government 120th Collaborative Meeting theme.
“We have responded to different competent authorities many times, but they often only hold meetings with industry players and experts, and they don’t understand the complexity of platform delivery. Today’s multi-party talks are more mutually understandable. At least there is a chance to break the one-sided perception of government officials in the past.” After the collaborative meeting, the proposer and several seconders sincerely expressed their feelings to the colleagues of the Ministry of Labor.
In fact, in order to maintain the diversity of participants in this meeting, the Ministry of Labor has indeed put a lot of effort into it. Two open registrations were solicited, but the number of sponsors was not full. Finally, the proposers were urgently searched for on their behalf, in an effort to increase the number of delivery partners.
As a result, I have seen a profound change since the opening of the government: the public sector’s attitude towards inviting the public to a meeting has changed from “it’s better if you can come”. This event may seem small, but it is an important milestone in the actual opening of the mind. In the past, we often heard: “The meeting notice has been issued, and I can’t do anything if the people don’t come.” Now, more voices are: “What if the people don’t come? Who else can I call?”
On the Internet It is not uncommon for “10,000 people to respond and one person to be present” to jointly sign the proposal. Take a collaborative meeting as an example, it is customary to hold a meeting at the time of the proposer and invite five seconders to participate. Those who can’t be there can join the discussion through live broadcasts, slide online messages, etc. Although the difficulty of invitation cannot be completely avoided, we uphold the spirit of openness and transparency and try our best to provide equal participation rights for all parties. At this time, the timely replacement of administrative positions and tireless efforts have played a positive role.
“Today I heard the deliveryman share, and I realized that there are many things that are different from my original understanding. It is really complicated.” The director of the labor department concluded At the same time, he generously shared his experiences and contributions of how he was taught by the public. During the two-hour full discussion among delivery workers, trade union representatives, platform operators, industry associations, labor-management mediation committees, and various government units, everything from the aspects that should be considered in the proposal and appeal to the legislation to the calculation method of mileage in the delivery platform app. Rationality has set a coordinate between questions and answers, and it has become a blueprint for continuous communication in the future.
This case reflects the function of the “Open Government Collaboration Conference” as a communication platform: through the exchange of different positions, the first step to build mutual understanding, let the competent authorities When their respective powers and responsibilities promote policies, they can be more confident. Such an approach highly relies on the active service of colleagues in the public sector and the concerted input of all participants.
I look forward to the future. Open and diverse discussion methods like collaborative meetings will not only continue to ferment issues in the delivery industry, but also lay a solid foundation for various complex policies.