Platform workers to get bigger voice from union-linked groups’ tie-up with Grab
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The tie-up will also pave the way for dialogues to deepen understanding of platform work and the provision of training to help workers sharpen their skills.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - Two national associations acting on behalf of platform workers here are tying up with technology firm Grab in an effort to improve representation for such workers.
A pact between the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) and Grab, which was inked on Monday, will also pave the way for structured dialogues to deepen understanding of platform work and the provision of training to help workers sharpen their skills.
Grab, Singapore’s dominant ride-hailing and food delivery operator, is the first platform company to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the union-linked associations. It comes ahead of a new legislative framework to beef up representation for platform workers that will be rolled out from the second half of 2024.
Speaking at the MOU signing ceremony at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability in Jurong East, National Trades Union Congress chief Ng Chee Meng said the partnership was a significant step forward.
Under the tie-up, the associations and Grab will work to advance workers’ interests in three key areas, namely representation, Central Provident Fund contributions work injury compensation
“This MOU can provide a better environment for the platform (company) and workers... This is important, as we await legislation.”
Grab Singapore managing director Yee Wee Tang stressed the importance of caring for the needs of platform workers, who are “critical enablers of our economy”.
NDCA, which represents workers in food and package delivery, has more than 2,000 members. NPHVA, which champions the rights of private-hire car drivers, declined to disclose its membership figures.
NPHVA general secretary Joseph Goh said the MOU would ensure workers’ needs are addressed collectively in official discussions, and their voices better heard through “more structured and meaningful engagements”.
By spelling out their needs, the pact provides accountability and ensures formal representation for workers, he added.
NDCA president Goh Yong Wei said his association would prioritise the roll-out of work injury compensation insurance for part-time and full-time workers with the signing of the MOU.
Workplace insurance, he added, is important as he has witnessed uninsured association members relying on donations to afford medical treatment for work-related injuries.
He said NDCA was in talks to ink agreements with other platform operators, though he did not name these companies when asked by The Straits Times.
Mr Peh Hock Chuan, who drives for Grab, believes that with the MOU, drivers will have a direct channel through which they can collectively air the problems they face.
The 55-year-old also welcomed more training programmes for workers, noting that digital upskilling programmes can help newer drivers assimilate into the industry.
In July, the Ministry of Manpower announced it had accepted recommendations from a tripartite workgroup that will pave the way for representative bodies to champion platform workers’ interests under a new legislative framework
Once it takes effect, more than 88,000 platform workers can negotiate better working conditions as a group through representative bodies that can act almost like trade unions.
