INTHEBLACK August 2022 - Magazine - Page 29
Left: Tram drivers
gather in protest
outside the Victorian
state parliament in
September 2015, over a
pay dispute with Yarra
Trams. A large group of
taxi drivers joined the
protest, voicing
concerns about
competition from the
rideshare platform
UberX.
INTO THE
FUTURE
While consumers also hold some power in
influencing business success, they are yet to
add an authoritative voice to the conversation
around better protection of workers.
“As yet...the consumer does not appear to be
a vocal agitator for change. There is mounting
cynicism towards the notion that the gig
economy is a technology-enabled source of
flexible opportunistic work. The gig economy
is functioning like all new ‘boom’ economies
in that it starts by writing its own rules, but
is ultimately encircled by social norms and
regulations that hold it to a higher account,”
says Carrel.
CHANGE IS COMING
The DoorDash agreement is a step forward for
workers’ rights and, through an independent
body, aims to “provide standards, protections
and access to benefits, without sacrificing the
autonomy and flexibility independent workers
value”, says Burrows.
“The agreement calls for the creation of a
national framework that would allow app-based
workers to maintain their independence, while
accessing new protections and benefits tailored
to this new form of work.
“For platform businesses, this would enable
business certainty and a level playing field,”
she says.
For Michael Kaine, national secretary
of the TWU, the agreements reached
with DoorDash and Uber draw a line
in the sand and are a step towards
creating a sustainable gig economy
for transport workers.
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gig economy
“At their core, both agreements recognise
that an independent body to establish
universal standards for earnings, flexibility,
safety and security for all workers is
essential to improve the gig economy into
the future,” he says.
“Such a body must be empowered to
recognise the arbitrary labels of employee or
contractor are simply outdated, and instead
examine issues like levels of dependency in
the process of setting appropriate
standards,” he says.
It also makes good economic sense,
argues Adam Carrel, partner, climate change
and sustanability services at EY.
“Any business model that relies on distinct
imbalances of power is ultimately on an
unsustainable footing, and so the
introduction of better worker protections
will potentially weed out flawed business
models, but this will ultimately be to the
benefit of the economy as a whole,” says
Carrel.
Kaine agrees: “Creating a gig economy
that’s safer, more sustainable and less
volatile is in all our interests.”
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au August 2022 29