Uber, union hail landmark agreement: “We haven’t always been allies”
The deal paves the way for a new independent body that would set minimums earnings standards and allow gig economy workers to unionise.
Ridesharing giant Uber has struck an deal with the Transport Workers‘ Union, ending years of heated disputes over minimum standards and multiple driver incidents and deaths, and paving the way for a new legislated body that would set minimum earnings standards and allow gig economy workers to unionise.
The organisations reached an agreement following months of negotiations, marking the first time a platform company has signed a deal with a union across both ridesharing and food delivery industries nationally and likely putting an end to ongoing fights over whether Uber drivers should be classified as employees.
Under the deal, both Uber and TWU will support a new legislated independent body that would be tasked with creating new industry-wide standards around minimum and transparent enforceable earnings and benefits; a dispute resolution process for when an Uber driver is deactivated; and rights for workers to unionise.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said he is calling for the new federal Labor government to move ‘ASAP’ on the changes.
“Our legal system has really fallen behind and has not addressed this ancient divide between employees, and everything that includes in terms of rights and protections, and independent contractors on the other hand who get nothing,” Mr Kaine said in an interview.
“Today’s agreement sends a strong signal to the newly-minted federal government that it must act to deliver gig companies regulatory certainty and extend appropriate safeguards to workers across the gig economy.
“The community wants these services but they want sustainable arrangements, they want to know the worker who is knocking on the door or is picking them up is protected, is rested, and is protected if something goes wrong.”
Uber general manager Dom Taylor said the agreement will raise the standard for the company’s more than 100,000 drivers and delivery workers.
“While Uber and TWU may not seem like obvious allies, we’ve always agreed that driver and delivery partners must come first, and today we have struck this important deal to improve workers’ protections,” he said.
“The dichotomy between contractor and employment is archaic and where we are in the 21st century,” he said. ”We‘re retaining flexibility that people want and overlaying on top of that a mix of benefits and safety nets for the best of both worlds.
“We want to see a level playing field for the industry and preserve the flexibility that gig workers value most. It is critical that earners continue to be part of the regulatory conversation and that their collective voice is heard.”
The TWU has previously been at loggerheads with Uber and other food delivery companies over driver deaths, with five ridesharing drivers killed in one month alone in late 2020. A confidential audit conducted by the NSW government and obtained by The Australian also found that Uber failed to meet its own standards relating to driver training, safety management, and when it allowed almost all of its drivers accused by passengers of sexual misconduct to remain on its ride-sharing platform.
The commission issued Uber with 13 improvement notes and fined the company $200,000.
“The likes of Uber have been allowed to get away with trampling on workers’ right and risking their lives,“ Mr Kaine said at a vigil in December 2020. ”Denying workers minimum rates, forcing them to race around to make enough to pay bills and threatening them with sacking if they are even a few minutes late is endangering workers. Workers urgently need minimum pay, training, proper protective gear and insurance.”
The union executive said on Tuesday that both the TWU and Uber quickly found common ground once they‘d begun negotiations. The TWU signed an agreement with DoorDash in May, and is hoping the mooted independent body can regulate across the entire gig economy.
“We haven‘t always been allies. But when we began talking last year, what’s abundantly clear is that we are both solving for improving the quality of work for people who will be affected by these changes,” Mr Kaine said of his negotiations with Uber.
“I’ve been really impressed with the spirit that both parties have brought to the negotiating table over the past few months, and these are some really clear, actionable desires that we will take to Canberra.”