Meituan denies link between money woes and labor strikes

Meituan responded to TechNode’s Monday story about delivery fleet strikes, saying that the reduction in pay was a normal cyclical event for part-time staff that enjoy incentivizing seasonal subsidies during peak periods. The pay reduction was not connected to the company’s financials and Meituan’s delivery service is operating normally after the company communicated the wage fluctuation to the striking workers, said a company spokesman on Tuesday.

However, when TechNode contacted the company Monday for comment, the company spokesman stated that he was not aware of any labor strikes.

The company’s financial pressures, however, are unambiguous after recording a net loss of RMB 4.2 billion ($626 million) during the first half of 2018. Margin pressures are a common thread across delivery platforms that have used cash-burning discounts and coupons in the ongoing market share battle, resulting in increased commission rates as recently as mid-January.

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