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Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke,who is charged with rolling out the government’s gig economy reforms,said it was not in the interests of any platform that there be a “complete race to the bottom”.
“They run the risk of another competitor just undercutting and their market share disappearing and,effectively,who have they helped?” Burke said. “It’s bad for the platforms,it’s bad for the workers and it’s not the sort of country that Australia is meant to be.”
A Deliveroo spokesperson said the food delivery service provided insurance,parental leave and sick pay to its riders but current industrial relations laws had “not enabled us to go as far as we would have liked” in providing benefits.
“We look forward to engaging with the new government on this important topic. If riders are accepted as self-employed,meaning they can maintain ultimate flexibility,we can start to discuss how we may provide the benefits they deserve,” the spokesperson said.
Morten Belling,the managing director of Menulog,which has been trialling a rider employee model paying a minimum wage,annual leave,superannuation and other entitlements,said the company would continue its application to Fair Work to create an appropriate industry award.
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“Menulog supports a national approach to the introduction of any new measures for the on-demand food delivery platform industry and cannot state strongly enough the importance of genuine and deep consultation with the sector to ensure Australia can avoid the unintended economic consequences that regulation has had in other parts of the world,” he said.
Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kaine,who recentlystruck a deal with food delivery platform DoorDash for greater worker protections,said levelling the playing field was critical to ending the “deadly pressures” facing gig workers,following a spate of rider deaths in recent years.
“For too long,gig giants have raked in profits from a Wild West regulatory environment where practically anything goes,” Kaine said,adding the result was an industry “marred with horrific exploitation,rampant underpayment,life-altering injuries and shocking deaths”.
University of Sydney senior lecturer Alex Veen,an expert on the gig economy,said the tight labour market meant platforms such as Uber would be looking to lift standards to retain workers.
“It’s critical they have an adequate supply of workers on their platform at any particular time,given they can’t direct someone to work at 8 o’clock on a Friday,they need to provide incentives,” Veen said.
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