Gig workers slam Uber: CSR stunt masks true sanitation crisis

Hyderabad: TheTelangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) have expressed serious objection to Uber’s latest partnership announcement with Sulabh International, made on World Toilet Day.

The unions stressed the critical need to move beyond selective campaigns and instead commit to universal accessibility and significant investment towards basic human rights for all gig and platform workers. While sanitation is unequivocally a basic human right, the unions argue that Uber has once again used a critical worker issue to run a PR-driven, selective, and self-serving campaign, rather than taking real and comprehensive responsibility for gig and platform workers.

Reacting strongly to the announcement, Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary (IFAT) and Founder (TGPWU), said, “Amit Deshpande and Uber should be ashamed of turning a life-and-dignity issue into a publicity stunt. The CSR amount spent on this initiative is a joke for a company of Uber’s size.” He further added, “Indian gig and platform workers deserve real welfare, not photo-op CSR. Uber is repeating the same pattern: announce something flashy, spend the bare minimum, and claim moral leadership. Meanwhile, lakhs of gig and platform workers across India continue to struggle without sanitation, social security, fair wages, or basic protections.”

TGPWU and IFAT condemned Uber for three main points: treating sanitation like a brand promotion, rather than a fundamental responsibility; failing to negotiate industry-wide solutions, choosing instead to run isolated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives for maximum public relations benefit; and not expanding the initiative to include and support women workers outside Uber, despite full awareness that their safety and hygiene needs are also critically important.

Shaik Salauddin stated, “If Uber and Amit Deshpande are serious about worker dignity, let them extend this initiative to every gig and platform worker in India—not hide behind selective CSR. Gig and platform workers don’t need pity. They need rights, recognition, and respect.”

TGPWU and IFAT demand that Uber immediately: expand sanitation access to all gig and platform workers, not just Uber drivers; collaborate with other platforms to create comprehensive, industry-wide sanitation standards; significantly increase CSR investments instead of giving workers symbolic ‘free access’; and stop using worker welfare as a marketing and image-building exercise.