On 2 July 2022, GrabFood transports passengers across the Jubilee Bridge at Merlion Park in Singapore. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s top manpower minister says gig workers in Singapore face “weaknesses” that need to be addressed.
Koh told Squawk Box Asia on Monday that the outbreak has shown that platform workers in the city-state provide a “useful service” and that they will “stay here” for the foreseeable future.
“Over time, if they’re doing it as a long-term career, they (shouldn’t) be behind others in terms of long-term needs,” he said, adding that areas to consider include retirement adequacy, injury compensation and housing.
His comments came after the Singapore government Accepted a set of recommendations Headed by a tripartite working group to ensure better representation of platform staff.
That means those workers will be able to “get some legal empowerment” and negotiate on an equal footing with platform companies, Koh added.
Such workers typically work for ride-hailing or food delivery companies such as catch, Gojack and Foodpanda.
According to the Singapore Ministry of ManpowerAs of 2022, there are 88,400 platform workers across the country.
Gig workers face ‘significant management controls’
The minister clarified that the legal mandate for gig workers “is not exactly the same as trade unions”.
“Unions can negotiate in some areas that have nothing to do with platforms, workers and their companies,” he added. “For example, platform employees are not interested in promotions, they don’t get the so-called annual bonus at the end of the year, and they don’t get the typical annual sick leave.”
“So it’s completely different because these employees value flexibility, but they’re under strict management control,” Koh said.
This includes changes to matching and pricing algorithms on the platform, which could affect gig workers’ livelihoods.
“The pay is low, and they’re more volatile than the average employee. We think that something that helps them be able to speak for themselves … is important to balance the relationship and allow the platform ecosystem to grow in a more sustainable way,” Koh said.
DBS said the fee-to-income ratio for gig workers was 112% in May, “significantly higher” than the 57% for regular customers.
However, Coe noted that it “doesn’t make sense” to discuss the possibility of a minimum wage for gig workers because they are free to work as much as they want.
“It’s important to maintain the flexibility that both workers and platform companies want. That’s a very key tenet in the discussion.”
Tripartism: Singapore’s “secret sauce”
The Tripartite Working Group on Worker Representatives on Platforms was established last August by the Ministry of Manpower, the Singapore Labor Movement and the Singapore National Employers Federation.
“The important thing to realize is that in Singapore’s labor landscape, our labor and industrial relations are based on what we call tripartism. It’s our secret sauce,” Hui stressed.
“The tripartite nature involves the government, the platform company in this case, and the platform workers in the union…The close cooperation of the three parties will form the basis of this trusting relationship.”
this set of suggestions Covers the process for obtaining representative mandates, the scope of negotiations and formal agreements, and how to resolve differences between representative bodies and platform companies.
Koh added: “The very fact that we have come up with this set of proposals proves that tripartism is working.”
“As technology changes, platform companies change their business models, and having a dialogue platform for both sides to have a dialogue…it has to be a win-win.”