Landmark job deal struck for gig workers

Australia-first agreement backs need for enforceable industry-wide standards.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine. Picture: AAP

The Transport Workers Union has struck a landmark agreement with the food delivery platform DoorDash that opens the way for better conditions for drivers by backing the need for enforceable industry-wide standards set by an independent body.

In the first agreement of its kind between an Australian union and a delivery platform, the TWU and DoorDash have signed a six-point statement of principles they said would form a “national framework for future reform of the on-demand transport industry, including through government regulation”.

While workers would continue to be classified as independent contractors, the statement says workers in the on-demand economy should not be prohibited from accessing appropriate work rights and entitlements.

“The time has come to move beyond the artificial dichotomy between an employment model, which offers protections and benefits to workers but less flexibility, and an independent contractor model, which can offer workers flexibility but lacks legally-­mandated protections and benefits,” it says.

“All workers deserve protections and benefits that are tailored to their needs and the unique ­nature of their work. We should recognise the value that workers derive from this new, unique form of work, while creating a portable, proportional, and flexible framework that allows app-based ­workers to maintain their independence while accessing new protections and benefits.”

Areas where industry-wide standards would apply include safety, insurance and transparency to ensure workers can see what a job will pay.

The statement is the first stage of a three-stage process, with ­DoorDash general manager ­Rebecca Burrows saying discussion about worker remuneration would be part of the second stage when the platform seeks to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the union.

“We expect earnings will be part of the next phase of discussions. We are subject to an earnings standard tied to minimum wage elsewhere and are currently advocating for earnings standards in several jurisdictions,” Ms Burrows said.

“While we don’t want to pre-empt the next phase of discussions, we will be looking at how to provide access to new benefits and protections tailored to this unique form of work. For those working through platforms like DoorDash, we believe those benefits must be proportional to the amount that they choose to work, portable ­between work on different platforms, and flexible to meet their unique needs.”

If agreed, the MoU would act as a framework for proposed ­industry-wide standards before DoorDash and the TWU lobbied governments to implement the regulatory framework.

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the agreement was “about the gig economy coming to its senses”.

“It had been operating in a way where it thought it was impervious to market forces … it blows apart the notion that these types of enforced standards are inconsistent with flexibility,” he said.

He said the union believed that collaborating with DoorDash was an important step towards giving gig economy workers the rights and protections they deserved.

“The future of work shouldn’t mean the loss of hard-won rights, instead it should mean greater prosperity for all of us. A single worker shouldn’t have to go up against a gig giant via court in a hopelessly outdated system that sets them up to fail – we need new laws to secure rights for all workers and this agreement paves the way for delivering them.”