By the time you’re reading this, the federal election will be well and truly decided.
At the time of writing, campaigning has only just begun in earnest.
Under the Albanese government, the transport industry has had significant wins, not least world-leading transport reform legislation that operators, drivers, associations and more have been crying out for.
But here’s what doesn’t change with the result of the election.
What doesn’t change is the need for these laws to remain in place as we’re just gaining momentum.
Those laws have led to the following progress:
- Four applications now made using the new system to set decent standards:
- Food delivery: to give gig workers world-first rights and set minimum standards on pay and conditions to stop the gig economy undercutting the rest of the industry
- Last mile parcel delivery: to set minimum standards and stop clients like Amazon pulling the rug out from traditional operators
- 30-day payments: to ensure maximum 30-day payments for all industry participants
- Cash-in-transit: to call on the big banks and retailers to fund decent standards in the cash-in-transit industry
- For the first three applications, sub-committees have now been consulting on the applications, with a wide range of industry participants part of this process
- Automatic rights have now kicked in for owner drivers and gig workers. For owner drivers, that means protections against unfair contract terminations, and for gig workers it means no longer getting kicked off an app without a way to appeal.
The wheels are in motion – that’s a lot that’s at stake.
We said as much in our trip to Parliament House in February – a delegation made up of TWU members, as well as representatives from the NRFA, NatRoad, ARTIO and employer FBT TransWest.
We met with many from the Albanese government who’d been instrumental in getting the laws in place. But we also spoke to the crossbenchers, those who aren’t from the major parties, and who have crucial roles when it comes to a vote passing or failing.
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We spoke to the Nationals as well about the importance of giving this legislation time to make life-saving differences.
It’s extraordinarily powerful for politicians to hear the same message coming from such a diverse group: gig economy delivery riders, long-distance owner drivers, employee drivers, representatives of owner drivers, representatives for hundreds of employers and employers themselves. So our need to keep up the momentum with the laws we’ve won doesn’t change.
Cyclone Alfred showed us once again that when disaster hits, it’s transport workers who keep things going, stepping up for their communities, but also for each other. When a truck driver went missing on his run from Brisbane to Melbourne during the storms, it was the transport community that spread the word and rallied together, and celebrated his safe return.
Of course, events like Alfred also show you how much we still need to fix.
Appallingly, the pressure on drivers and operators from the top of the supply chain doesn’t stop if you’re forced to go hours out of your way because of flooded roads, or can’t get to your destination, full stop. That’s not to mention the dangers of driving in those conditions and the fatigue that comes with it. Shelves are still expected to be stocked.
That just piles on more deadly pressure – and if you’re on small margins as it is, that also means trouble for your business. For many of TWU’s employee drivers, we’ve campaigned for things like disaster leave or volunteer leave. But it shouldn’t be owner drivers and transport operators forced to foot the bill when disaster strikes. The transport clients at the top of the supply chain must pay up to ensure decent cost recovery.
And it doesn’t just apply to truck drivers and operators – most people by now will have witnessed a gig worker delivering a burger in the pouring rain because they can’t afford not to work. Many of those services were shut completely by gig companies during Cyclone Alfred – critical to ensure safety, but it also meant gig workers didn’t get paid at all, and had no leave to use.
We’re on our way to making sure clients fund fair standards. Sub-committees have now met for our first three applications with the new laws: to introduce world-first rights for gig workers, to put decent standards in last mile delivery and to ensure maximum 30-day payments for all industry participants.
No doubt we will see the Amazons and the lobby groups for other wealthy clients arguing against fair standards.
All they can resort to is vague objections to regulation – which in reality just means they want to keep making their mega-profits while the industry is driven to rock bottom.
It’s time for decent standards in transport funded by the top of the supply chain, instead of those with the least power fighting over the scraps. With sub-committees well underway, it won’t be long before we have the first orders as a result of the new laws.
That would mean having a floor on pay and conditions in last mile, stopping the rampant undercutting from the likes of Amazon. It would mean standards in the gig transport economy for the first time in the world, and it would mean some of the pressures are eased on drivers and operators with maximum 30-day payment terms mandated.
That’s coupled with the new contract protections we saw introduced at the end of February. None of these laws are worth anything if your contract can just be torn up without reason or appeal. Now we’ve got a code in place to ensure owner drivers can’t have their contracts terminated for no good reason, and gig workers can’t just be kicked off an app.
The momentum’s there. Now we just need time.
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