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JAKARTA / SINGAPORE (Reuters): Indonesian motorcycle driver unions of private transport and food delivery companies Grab and Gojek say they will start protests across the country if merger negotiations between the companies continue without them, fearing that may result in massive job losses.
“We are concerned that a merger will result in the termination of the drivers,” said Igun Wicaksono, who heads Garda Nasional, a union of more than 100,000 drivers from Grab and Gojek, which called for the participation of the government and drivers in the negotiations.
“If they ignore us, then our last resort will be to hold mass demonstrations in Indonesia.”
Sources had told Reuters that the two most valuable startups in Southeast Asia, which compete in transportation, digital payments and food delivery services, are in advanced talks to merge, and the main stumbling block is over what a shared entity would look like. . as in Indonesia, its largest market.
The people said that many investors in each of the loss-making companies, notably Grab’s main founder, SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son, are eager for a merger to pave the way for a public listing.
A spokesman for Jakarta-based Gojek, backed by investors including Alphabet’s Google and valued by investors at around $ 10 billion during its latest round of funding, said the company does not comment on market speculation. Grab, valued at $ 15 billion, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
But transportation drivers in Indonesia said they are concerned about what a deal will mean for their livelihoods after their incomes fell sharply earlier this year when the coronavirus pandemic hit Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Garda Nasional said its members have recovered about 70 percent of their income before the pandemic, but that thousands of people were evicted from their homes between May and July.
Indonesian unions, which represent more than a million drivers, say they want the government to join the negotiations to protect them.
“A merger is damaging and we will protest against Grab, Gojek, as well as Softbank of Japan if there is no dialogue with us and the regulators or authorities,” said Fadel Balher, a representative of the East Kalimantan drivers union. “And we will protest loudly.”
Indonesia’s antitrust watchdog told Reuters that the companies had not notified a merger, but was monitoring coverage of the talks.
The Indonesian transport ministry told reporters that the companies had not contacted him.
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