It was about five years ago that truck owner-driver Tony Matthews started seeing work conditions in his industry erode. Matthews, who has been working for a major parcel delivery company for nearly 40 years, is on what is referred to at his workplace as a legacy contract – one that rolls over each year with an increase to his wage and cost recovery, and guarantees him superannuation and annual leave.
But he says there is just a handful of workers left on those contracts. Instead, the industry is now moving towards a “gig-style” workforce who are paid a piece rate that, Matthews says, does not match how long it takes to complete a job.
“We call it the Amazon effect,” he says, referring to the industry’s bid to compete with the rise of the delivery company Amazon Flex and its lower prices.
“All the major road transport companies are having this race to the bottom in order to compete and the squeeze on workers is getting out of control.”
Last week, the federal government introduced legislation that would set minimum pay and conditions for gig economy workers and the road transport industry.
But the legislation was delayed after crossbench MPs sided with the Coalition to launch a Senate inquiry into the bill.
The reforms have been attacked by employer groups, with some seizing on the admission by the workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, that the legislation might drive up prices slightly. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry labelled the laws as “radical” and in need of careful consideration.
But Matthews says the changes are necessary and urgent, with cheaper goods coming at the expense of people’s pay.
“They say this model improves flexibility but some of the guys here are working 70, 80 hours a week just to get a living wage,” he says. “It’s heartbreaking to see this happen and I think what the government is proposing will go a long way to give these guys the security I had.”
“Every day [the legislation is] delayed is a worker not getting the pay they should … and businesses doing the right thing getting squeezed out because they can’t [match] the low rates to clients offered by gig workers.”
Caleb Goods, an expert in the future of work at the University of Western Australia, says workers’ rights have been eroded as the gig economy expanded, and the reforms are a good first step to reverse that.
“Creating some form of minimum standards won’t completely solve the problems but will limit it,” he says.
Goods says he was not surprised the bill was delayed, arguing that scrutiny by a Senate committee is “worthwhile”. But he says the reforms are already modest and should not be narrowed further.
Fiona Macdonald, an expert in industrial relations at the Australia Institute, says she hopes the delay will see the reforms go even further than what is currently proposed to protect workers, particularly as the gig economy expands into other forms of work such as care.
“I don’t think the creation of a third category of workers is good enough,” she says, referring to the bill’s proposal to classify gig workers as “employee-like”. “Tony Burke has talked about [gig workers] being halfway up the ramp and if you’re a low-paid worker and have poor bargaining power, I don’t think you should be halfway up the ramp – I think you should be at the top.”
Amir, an international student from Nepal who has been working as a rider for a major meal delivery platform for almost six months, says the proposed changes – limited to digital platform workers who have low bargaining power and low authority over their work – would value his work more realistically.
He speaks to Guardian Australia while sitting on a milk crate just off King Street in the Sydney suburb of Newtown with a group of other meal delivery riders, all waiting for the app to assign them their next job. In the two hours he has been logged on, he has completed three deliveries, earning him $17.03.
“We are struggling with inflation too,” he says. “A lot of us are newcomers to this country with not many other options for work … If the government is trying to help us, then I think this is a good thing.”
Steve Khouw, a meal delivery rider and longtime advocate for better pay and conditions, says when he first started as a delivery rider in 2015, he was earning about $9 a gig, which was a sustainable wage at the time. But that has now dropped to about $5-$6, with platforms changing the payment structure on a regular basis.
He says “it’s about time” the government set minimum standards, but he does not think the legislation will go far enough to address the “AI surveillance” that he claims causes workers to rush and put themselves in danger.
“The AI figures out who the best rider is to pick up the gig,” he says. “They can also prioritise riders who are faster and if you’re slow, they send little messages in the app like, ‘you didn’t make it in time last time, better improve your game’. It’s insidious.”
Not all are happy with being included in the proposed changes, particularly some workers on Mable, a digital platform for care workers.
Sally Branham, who has worked as a carer using Mable’s platform for the past year, says she does not think the changes need to apply to the platform, given that it allows workers to choose their hourly rate, with a minimum of $36 an hour. She says she charges above the award wage at about $50 an hour.
“Mable is a great example of how you want to run a platform for labour,” she says.
• This article was amended on 13 September 2023 to make clear that the meal delivery riders interviewed do not work for Amazon Flex, which is a package delivery service that operates under a different model.
