GIG WORKER WIN WELCOME BUT FIGHT FOR RIGHTS GOES ON

Australian gig workers have had a major win today but the fight to make sure they get a fair deal is far from over.

Federal Labor welcomes the Fair Work Commission’s decision to uphold delivery rider Diego Franco’s unfair dismissal claim against Deliveroo.

Diego worked for the company for three years but was sacked at the height of the pandemic over claims he wasn’t working fast enough. He was given no opportunity to argue his case and left to support his family with no income.

The Commission has today found Deliveroo’s actions were ‘callous’ and ‘most notable for its absence of compassion’.

Labor congratulates Mr Franco and the Transport Workers’ Union for advocating on his behalf to achieve today’s win.

But the risk now is Deliveroo and other gig work companies will reorganise to avoid any further obligations to workers.

That’s why Labor has a plan to give the Commission new powers to set minimum standards for gig workers and other ‘employee-like’ workers.

Your rights as a worker shouldn’t just fall off a cliff because your employer refuses to categorise you as an employee.

Right now gig workers are being ripped off and exploited. They are working in dangerous conditions with poor pay and almost no rights, protections and entitlements. That’s why we saw five delivery riders die on our roads in three months.

But Scott Morrison just doesn’t seem to care about gig workers. When we ask the Government what they’re going to do to fix this issue they just say ‘it’s complicated’. They seem determined to make insecure work worse.

Labor has a plan to fix these problems with its Secure Australian Jobs Plan because Labor is on the side of workers.

TUESDAY, 18 MAY 2021