The working conditions of couriers in Turkey – a large part of whom work under the gig economy – came into the spotlight recently as employees of several online platforms, including shopping giant Hepsiburada and Chinese Alibaba-backed Trendyol, have been protesting throughout this week.

Hepsiburada’s courier arm, HepsiJET, took to social media late Thursday to express outrage after the company only offered them a TL 1 ($0.07) raise per parcel distributed.

"We are HepsiJET workers, we distribute cargo to your door every day. Do you know how we do this? By running," the employees said on their community’s Twitter account.

Employees who gathered under #kuryeyezam and #hakkımızıverhepsijet ("raise to couriers" and "give us our rights HepsiJET" in Turkish) hashtags, underlined that the raise does not exceed TL 1 per parcel.

"The money we make is under the minimum wage," the employees said and added that they work with an on-demand status and don’t receive a regular salary.

Turkey’s minimum wage has been increased by a massive 50% to TL 4,250 (around $275.40) for 2022, as consumer prices have also skyrocketed in the country last year and the uncertainty generated by currency volatility and price hikes cast a shadow on citizens' purchasing power.

The annual inflation rate stood at 36.08% in December, its highest level in 19 years.

The couriers of Trendyol Express of the Alibaba-owned Trendyol, most recently succeeded in their fight to get a 38.8% raise instead of the meager 11% the company initially offered.

The monthly income of the employees increased from TL 9,000 to TL 10,000 with the initial rise, but when all expenses such as vehicle fuel, insurance, maintenance costs and taxes are subtracted from this income, the net amount left to them ranges between TL 3,500 to TL 4,000.

This problem arises from a new working model called the gig economy which has become widespread in Turkey in recent years. Today, many couriers, cargo and shipping companies give distribution and transportation jobs to individuals who open sole proprietorships instead of employing the employees themselves.

Those self-employed workers under the "artisan-courier" model are not bound by labor laws and cannot benefit from the rights that workers normally have. Since they are self-employed, they work without holidays and have long working hours. Above all, the investment cost, insurance and other expenses are covered by the employees, which have all risen in recent months in Turkey, including through price hikes applied to vehicle fuels, causing couriers to seek commensurate payment raises.

The business model, which started with the establishment of HepsiJet in 2016, was followed by Trendyol Express in 2018, and AmazonTurkey’s Kolay Gelsin in 2019. Companies that carry food and grocery orders, such as Getir and Yemeksepeti Banabi, also use the artisan-courier model. Similarly, Trendyol Go, which carries grocery orders, employs personnel under similar conditions. In recent years, cargo companies have also started to recruit staff similarly.

According to reports, 50,000 couriers, some 20,000 in Istanbul, work under this model.

Thanks to this model, intermediary courier companies can make deliveries on the same day as the order, which makes companies using them preferred by customers and increases performance while reducing costs. These companies grow without investing much capital. The model initially seemed to benefit both sides, but the shifting of costs onto the shoulders of couriers reveals it does not, or at least not anymore.

According to the data supplied by the Energy Oil Gas Supply Stations Employers' Association (EPGIS), fuel prices increased 79 times in 2021. The gasoline price increased by TL 10.38 in one year.

Fuel prices have exceeded TL 14 throughout the country. The gasoline price has also reached record levels with an increase of nearly TL 0.50, effective since midnight on Jan. 19. The liter price of diesel is also sold at TL 14.

E-commerce, meanwhile, with the particular effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, has skyrocketed in Turkey in recent years. According to the data of the e-commerce information platform of the Trade Ministry, as of the first six months of 2021, the e-commerce volume in the country increased by 75.6% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to TL 161 billion. In 2019, the total e-commerce volume was TL 136 billion.