With the Closing Loopholes legislation taking effect on Monday this week (see next item) the TWU has made applications to the Fair Work Commission for fairer standards for gig workers. The union says that the amendments it seeks will allow gig workers and owner-driver couriers and truckies to have access to the Fair Work Commission for the first time.
The applications include a safety net on pay to ensure workers can recover their costs, earn a living wage, and be compensated for the intermittent, uncertain nature of their work. Other entitlements in the applications include company-funded superannuation and safety training, as well as consultation and representation rights.
A further application from truck drivers under this week’s new laws will call for fair payment terms in transport supply chains, preventing wealthy retailers, manufacturers and oil companies from passing financial risk onto operators and owner drivers on razor-thin margins.
The TWU’ says the applications attack the “Amazon Effect” where transport supply chains are squeezed by wealthy retailers at the top, while unregulated gig competition has ripped away standards from the bottom.
Decades of evidence has shown the link between low pay and poor safety outcomes in Australia’s deadliest industry. TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said: “With these applications, we are redesigning the deadly transport industry, and not a day too soon. Gig workers have been killed, maimed and exploited with no access to rights and protections until now. In the broader transport industry, almost 500 workers have died, and more than 3,500 businesses have collapsed over the last decade alone.”
Read more: TWU Press release Transport Workers make landmark applications under new Fair Work jurisdiction to redesign deadly industry