In a joint statement, Uber and transport labor union (TWU) said they signed an agreement to support an unspecified federal body to “set minimum and transparent enforceable income and benefits/terms for platform employees”.
The new body will also oversee disputes that result in drivers closing their accounts in the so-called “gig economy”, and protect the rights of drivers to settle with a “collective voice”, the statement said.
The move, though largely symbolic, reflects a widespread response by the San Francisco tech giant to pressure from unions around the world to keep a floor under wages that exceed its fee-setting algorithms.
The company has entered into similar agreements with unions in the UK, Canada and some US states, but often following court rulings or changes in law that favor guaranteed levels of pay.
In the UK, in February 2021 a court ruled that Uber’s drivers were its “workers”, thus entitled to the national minimum wage. In May, the company said it would formally recognize the UK’s GMB trade union.
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Australian courts continue to support Uber’s argument that its drivers are independent contractors. But an investigation by the state of New South Wales in April recommended setting up a tribunal to “set minimum wages and conditions. gig workers,
In that inquiry, Uber had said that paying drivers a minimum wage would stop them using other platforms and force them to accept a set number of rides, reducing their flexibility.
In the statement on Tuesday, Dom Taylor, Uber’s general manager for Australia, said the company wants to “see a level playing field for the industry and maintain the flexibility that gig workers value.
“It is important that earner regulators remain part of the conversation and that their collective voice is heard,” he said.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the agreement is “an important and positive development in a years-long campaign led by gig economy workers to modernize outdated industrial laws”.