The Shrine as an Alliance
Although delivery riders' work is inherently labor-intensive, they operate as dispersed individuals within their workspace. The significant power disparity between them and the platforms often renders them perceived as lacking bargaining power, making it difficult to establish deep connections among themselves, let alone organize effective collective actions. This situation facilitates the unimpeded implementation of platform algorithms. Globally, delivery riders in the UK, Italy, Germany, and Hong Kong have staged protests, showing that collective action is possible even with technical barriers across platforms. However, in China, although pilot projects for riders to join unions exist in some cities, these company-established unions are mostly symbolic and have limited effectiveness in mediating between enterprises and labor individuals.
The "Shrine" interface provided by the Delivery Immortal System serves as an alternative to offline tangible organizations. On this platform, delivery riders can share insights, trade second-hand items and e-bikes, seek legal aid, and initiate fundraising for colleagues in accidents. This not only facilitates the circulation of their information but also centralizes business and support.
Information about labor conditions shared on this platform is more likely to gain consumer awareness and sympathy. Simultaneously, by strategically refusing to accept orders from areas with unreasonable pricing, riders can undermine consumer trust in platform businesses.