In Changsha, delivery riders protested after being barred from entering residential compounds to deliver food — while platforms continued to penalize them for late or failed deliveries.
What began as a labor-access dispute quickly escalated, with reports of thousands of police deployed to suppress the protest. No rioting. No looting. Just workers caught between physical restrictions imposed by property management and algorithmic punishments imposed by delivery platforms.
When workers are denied access, fined for delays they cannot control, and silenced when they push back, it stops being a logistics issue and becomes a labor rights issue.
The response shows where priority lies: enforcement first, resolution later — if ever.