Gig economy workers could be given fairer wages and guaranteed protections under a landmark agreement struck between Uber and the Transport Workers' Union (TWU).
The in-principle agreement signed yesterday supports the introduction of a minimum earnings "safety net", a mechanism to resolve disputes and the creation of a collective body to represent rideshare and delivery drivers.
Uber Australia managing director Dom Taylor said the agreement balanced the flexibility of gig work with greater protections for drivers.
"What we are trying to do is improve the quality of independent work for rideshare drivers and online food delivery drivers," he said.
Michael Kaine from the TWU said gig workers had been a feature of the Australian economy since 2011.
"Our laws are hopelessly out of date. If you're an employee and you're categorised as such then you get all the rights we've built up over decades," Mr Kaine said.
"(But) if you're an independent contractor, even if you're very highly reliant on the entity that's engaged you, all of a sudden you get no rights and conditions."
The family of Hungry Panda driver Xiaojun Chen was this week awarded $830,000 in compensation after the 43-year-old was killed while working in Sydney in September 2020.
Mr Chen was one of seven food delivery drivers who died on the job in 2020.
Mr Kaine said their deaths highlighted the urgent need for reform.
Gig economy workers are currently not entitled to benefits such as minimum wages, worker's compensation or sick leave because they are considered independent contractors, rather than employees.
The Statement of Principles would see Uber and the TWU work together to directly lobby the federal government to reform industrial relations law to enshrine protections for gig workers.
The rideshare giant and the union will also back the creation of an independent federal body that would enforce minimum earnings protections and conditions for all gig workers.
Uber's Dom Taylor said he hoped it will lead to reform better reflecting the needs of the gig economy.
"We have an archaic industrial relations system which creates a clear dichotomy between contractors and employees," he said.
"The flexibility has needed to be traded off for things like benefits and protections — and we don't think that needs to be the case."
Mr Kaine agreed.
"It's about making sure that flexibility is a genuine choice for workers and not just a buzzword that's used to rip people off," he said.
"If we can get to a place where we've got a system that supports workers … and there's still genuine choice then we're getting the best of all worlds and we're modernising our system in a way that's going to serve us into the future."
The new federal government and the NSW government have both flagged the need for industrial relations reform to better protect gig workers.
