Hungry Panda Riders Cancel Sydney Strike Plan After Pressure From Chinese Police

There has been a long-standing dispute between the platform and some of its riders over pay cuts and lack of transparency in the Hungry Panda app’s algorithm.

A Hungry Panda food delivery bike in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 25, 2024. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Some riders for the delivery service Hungry Panda in Sydney have abandoned their strike plan after facing pressure from police in China.

In February, multiple Sydney riders of the food delivery platform, Hungry Panda, discussed plans for protests or refusing orders in their group chat on the Chinese social media app WeChat.

There has been a long-standing dispute between the platform and some of its riders, who have complained about pay cuts and the lack of transparency in the app’s algorithm. On the eve of the Chinese New Year, dozens signed up to go offline during the business peak as a protest.

However, many Chinese riders said they soon received threats from Chinese police for organising or participating in protests. Riders said they were contacted on their Chinese mobile numbers, which they still use in Australia with international roaming.

Exchanges between Hungry Panda riders and Chinese police have been independently verified, including phone records from one rider showing incoming calls from a police station in central China’s central Henan province.

Message exchanges from another rider with an officer identifying themselves as police from eastern Zhejiang province were also reviewed, with the phone number and WeChat accounts involved verified, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Founded in the UK in 2017, food delivery platform Hungry Panda entered the Australian and U.S. markets in 2019. It currently operates in 9 countries and over 100 cities, with around 6.5 million registered users and an annual transaction volume of approximately $1 billion.

The company operates in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Many of its delivery riders are Chinese nationals on temporary visas, rather than Australian citizens or permanent residents.