New business models spawning from digital platforms has given rise to a new working economy where independent contractors work without rights for minimum wages.
Collectively referred to as the gig, collaborative, or shared economy independent contractors carry the risk instead of employers when it comes to making a profit.
Employers only pay for work to be done when they need it to be done and give no thought to the needs of workers themselves.
If the tide of inequality is not turned for Australian workers, the issue is going to spiral out of control Unions warn.
Queensland Council of Unions General Secretary Roslyn McLennan supports greater protection for independent contract workers with the current working climate “turning working rights and conditions in this country back 100 years.”
“All working people should have the same set of workplace rights, regardless whether they are casual, labor hire, gig or traditional permanent workers,” McLennan says. However, where non-traditional working constructs flourish “it happens as a way to get work on the cheap.”
“Digital platform employment constructs have accelerated far beyond community expectation and government planning, there is very little policing for what’s happening in the digital employment space,” McLennan says.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 750,000 Australians work two or more jobs to survive due to mass underemployment. Growth in secondary jobs has increased 9.2 per cent and has surpassed growth in main jobs, up 6.8 per cent for the past three years.
“This is not a new phenomenon in Australia, but the growth in second and third jobs is extremely disturbing and should have every Australian worker, economist and politician worried,” Australian Council of Trade Unions President, Ged Kearney says.
The gig economy feeds off worker’s needs for a supplementary income and allows companies to pay for work only when there is a demand for it.
“It is done without any thought for how a worker is supposed to provide for themselves and their families at other times. Work is performed on an on-demand basis, shifting the entire risk from the employer to the worker,” McLennan says.
The growth in secondary jobs has been facilitated by the increasing technological advancements that can be seen with platforms such as Uber, Deliveroo and AirTasker.
“The technology is big difference than in the past and the ability it gives corporations to minimise cost and maximise control and therefore creates insecurity for the workers involved,” Professor of Employment Relations, David Peetz says.
Although Professor Peetz does see the benefits in gig work as a means to reduce fluctuations for worker’s incomes.
“Being able to log onto Uber and drive around for 40 hours, even if it is at low wages is better than nothing. It does enable some smoothing of fluctuations in incomes for workers who are already in insecure work."
Brisbane western suburbs Uber driver Martina Mann says in a week she can earn between $700-$1000. “It depends on the hours I work and the trips I get. If you get small trips it doesn't amount to much, but trips out to the airport are quite lucrative,” Mann says.
“I work because I want to work, not because I need to. If you needed an income every week it would be quite difficult. If you don’t work, you get nothing, I could be sick tomorrow and I will get nothing.”
Former Ipswich based Uber driver Sally Mahaffey found the gig work not to be worth her time. “I would get a trip to Brisbane on a Friday night from Ipswich, but I often wouldn’t get one home. The $16 I earned driving to Brisbane didn’t even cover my fuel cost,” she said.
While the Senate inquiry into the future of work has recommended expanding the definition of employment laws to capture the gig economy, a balance must be met to still allow workers control, flexibility and choice.
The question must be answered. “Who is at the center of the economy, is it people or profit? Hard hats or top hats? We really have to refocus our thinking,” says McLennan.
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