“Gig workers” such as those who deliver food and other packages could benefit from a universal basic income (UBI).
Pierre Arronax/Flickr
To achieve universal basic income, changes would be needed in terms of public and political support. Could the Covid-19 pandemic turn the tide?
A delivery rider in Sydney’s deserted Chinatown precinct, March 24 2020.
Steven Saphore/AAP
Food delivery workers are now essential workers. But they’re still not treated as employees.
Not hot?
Tetuana Shumbasova
This might be the craziest game in venture capitalism.
Shabby cabbie?
Ink Drop
Uber’s London licence has been a political football for several years, but that’s not really the point.
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Some initiatives aim to develop more ethical and equitable models.
Ricky, from Sorry We Missed You.
Joss Barratt/Sixteen Films
Flexibility is just a euphemism for exploitation.
The delivery riders consider that the correction of possible errors is part of their missions, even if they are not remunerated for these additional tasks.
Massimo Parisi / Shutterstock
The tensions between platforms and their workers can be better understood by studying the mutual expectations of both parties.
Foodora was struggling in Australia even before regulators took an interest in its cost-minimisation measures.
ArliftAtoz2205 / Shutterstock.com
It is the Australian Tax Office, not the Fair Work Commission, making the big waves with the Foodora case and the future of the gig economy.
Changing the legal definition of employee is not enough to ensure the protection of gig workers into the future.
AAP / Joel Carrett
The crucial question is not whether gig workers are employees or independent contractors, but what rights they ought to have as contractors.
After a long industrial campaign, Amazon workers in Italy have persuaded their employer to reach an agreement with them.
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Tech companies overseas are signing collective agreements with their employees. Might Australia be next?
Many gig workers are vulnerable to work-related accidents, so what can be done to ensure they are insured for injury and illness?
Sam Saunders/Flickr
Many vulnerable workers aren’t covered for work-related injuries and illness. Employment law is largely a federal matter while compensation schemes are state-run, but there’s a way to fix the problem.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges that food-delivery platform Foodora underpaid three workers.
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That the Fair Work Ombudsman brought a case against Foodora suggests its workers are most likely to be classified as employees. This could dissuade other platforms from offering similar benefits.
An unhealthy diet is now the leading preventable risk factor for disease globally.
Mavis Wong/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
New technologies do not discriminate between the promotion of a healthy or unhealthy diet. It’s how we apply them that matters.
In both Indian and Australian cities, cyclists who deliver goods and services have to take it slow.
Malini Sur
Cycling is a low-cost and non-polluting way to make deliveries in congested cities. Slow cyclists should be recognised as good for the economy and environment, not treated like second-class citizens.
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With more Australian workers joining the gig economy, questions about how these workers will fare in their retirement are becoming more pressing.
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When people get locked into the gig economy, it adversely affects other areas of their lives, from health to housing
Gig workers are characterised as contractors rather than employees, and are paid per delivery rather than per hour. That’s why certain visa restrictions don’t apply to them.
Charles Platiau/Reuters
Whether or not food delivery workers feel exploited is irrelevant, because they have few other options.
Sylvain Szewczyk/Flickr
Not only did trade union membership peak in the 1970s – so did their way of doing things.
The-Samizdat/Flickr
We all miss out when corporates keep themselves to themselves.
The crunch for platforms will come when labour market conditions improve and workers have more alternatives.
Neil Hall/Reuters
Today’s manifestations of the gig economy are tilted in favour of too few beneficiaries, and are not built to last.