Tale of two driving gigs delivers two different takeaways

Labor’s gig economy reforms generate competing views at the coalface.

Food delivery driver Utsav Bhattarai says working for Uber, Doordash, Menulog is ‘pretty bad’. Picture: Martin Ollman

Canberra food delivery driver Utsav Bhattarai says working for digital platforms including Uber, Doordash and Menulog for two years has been “pretty bad”.

“It’s super tiring,” he says. “Every day when I finish my work, all I think of is going home and going to my bed and sleeping. I don’t even think about eating. That’s how tired I am every day.

“I see a lot of drivers in Canberra just like myself and some are even in worse conditions. I have seen people who are burnt-out – the stress, their depression, they’re isolated every day because you work for an order just by yourself for half an hour, an hour and you’re just isolated, you are not talking to anybody.”

Mt Bhattarai, who works on average 50 to 60 hours per week, supports the federal government’s proposed minimum standards for gig work.

Under the changes, minimum standards orders could include payment terms, record-keeping and insurance, but overtime and rostering is excluded.

Uber claims ridesharing prices for passengers would jump by 60 per cent and delivery fees by 85 per cent under the proposed employee-like conditions for gig workers. Doordash calculates the average delivery cost could rise by more than 210 per cent, assuming the full-time and part-time award rates were applied.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has acknowledged the changes could lead to modest price rises for consumers, but says any cost increases for customers was a small price to ensure food delivery workers did not have to risk their safety.

Mr Bhattarai estimates that his take home pay averages about $20 an hour but the rate can be less.

“When we heard that there was a bill that was going to be presented, we all got excited that maybe we will get at least minimum standard pay,” he says.

“Some hours I’m making $20. Some hours I’m making $15. Sometimes I don’t get any orders and I’m making zero dollars an hour. That needs to be changed. I hope this bill is passed and we get standard minimum pay.”

Retired soldier Jason Keightley, 51, started working for Doordash in suburban Sydney this year. His wife works full-time as a child protection worker and, outside the hours of her primary job, they do deliveries together to bring in extra income.

Mr Keightley says he works on average about 10 hours a week across two days and the “freedom and flexibility” was the primary ­attraction.

Food delivery driver Jason Keightley likes the flexibility of working for digital platform Doordash. Picture: John Feder

He says he is “very happy with the pay”, estimating he makes $100 to $200 each time he goes out on deliveries “depending on promotions and hours”.

“Obviously, like any job, the longer you’re out there, the more deliveries you do, you’ll get paid more. I think it’s quite good considering I can go and do it whenever I want. I’d prefer to keep it the way it currently is because ­Doordash for me is very convenient,” he says.

“I’ve had full-time work and worked in the same place for 20 years. I understand with Doordash you are not going to get those same conditions but you don’t go in there expecting those to start with. (It) gives us the flexibility to get out there whenever we can. It gives us a little bit of extra money to pay those medical bills and things that just seem to occur.

“I generally drive and she goes out and does the deliveries or we swap around so one person can concentrate on driving. It’s probably not the most economic way of doing it but we spend some great time together too.”

Under the government changes, workers will be protected from unfair deactivation by platforms and have the right to ask the commission to resolve disputes.

“You wake up one morning and you try to sign into your app and you’re dismissed,” Mr Bhattarai says. “You don’t know why. You are not given any warning. Your job has just been taken away from you.”

Delivering grocery orders, he says he has had to take a 60kg ­grocery order up to the fifth floor of a building. “Carrying that weight is super risky for your physical health,” he says.

So why does he do it? “Because I love to drive. I thought this was going to be what they advertised to us. This is going to be flexible. I can work any hours I want.

“When I started this I was a student. But I didn’t find any flexibility except for the time you can sign in and go online. To get orders, you have to be (working) in a peak time on a weekend.”