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12 July 2023 – The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), a member of the Tripartite Workgroup (TWG) on Representation for Platform Workers, together with the National Taxi Association, National Private Hire Vehicles Association, and National Delivery Champions Association (collectively called Associations), has over the last few years been actively advocating to advance the interests of platform workers in areas such as long-term financial adequacy, medical and injury coverage.
While trade unions usually play the role of representing employees’ interests, platform workers are not recognised as employees under the Employment Act. As such, platform workers cannot form unions to collectively negotiate for their rights. They do not have the same legislative powers as trade unions to represent them, and hence face challenges in resolving disputes and during negotiations for workplace issues pertaining to payment terms, job allocation, health and safety. NTUC and our Associations have also been actively lobbying to be able to better represent this fast-growing group of vulnerable workers.
As a member of TWG, we feel strongly encouraged that the need for better protection for our platform workers has been recognised and that measures are being worked out to address the current gaps. We believe that the new representation framework can provide for a better balance of bargaining power between platform workers and platform operators. For a start, platform workers can benefit from better protection, with officially recognised Associations to represent them. Further to this, this framework also acts as the north star for Associations to negotiate for better work conditions and dispute resolutions. Finally, the recommendations come at a crucial time when clarity is much sought after in the nascent and fast-evolving nature of platform work.
Mr Ng Chee Meng, Secretary-General, NTUC said, “The Government’s acceptance of the recommendations is a significant milestone for all platform workers. NTUC has been advocating their interests and engaging them to understand their challenges over the years. As what could be the first-in-the-world tripartite collaboration for platform workers, the implementation of this framework paves the way for NTUC and our affiliated associations to officially represent them. We seek to work closely with our partners and platform workers, to champion them in the areas of better wages, welfare and work prospects. We want to thank all platform workers who have placed their trust and journeyed with us in making this possible.”
National Delivery Champions Association President Goh Yong Wei, National Taxi Association President Raymond Ong Thiam Khoon and National Private Hire Vehicles Association General Secretary Joseph Goh Say Sing said, “We are glad that the government has accepted the recommendations for representation for platform workers. As platform workers ourselves, we understand the unique struggles that platform workers face in our work. With representation, we will have the right to negotiate for our fellow platform workers’ interests. Instead of relying on informal agreements, we will be able to enter into binding agreements with platform operators. Platform workers can also look forward to clear processes and rules which will make it easier for us to obtain mandates from platform operators and to negotiate with platform operators on members’ behalf.”
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