The Transport Workers’ Union has welcomed a landmark High Court decision backing the NSW Government’s fight to hold Uber accountable for its tax obligations, which sends a message to all companies that regardless of whether they engage workers as employees, they have to pay their fair share of tax.
The decision is another step towards Labor governments’ reining in of tech companies which have side-stepped Australian laws for too long, while underpaying workers and moving mammoth profits offshore.
It follows a world-leading decision by the Fair Work Commission on minimum pay and conditions for food delivery workers, using laws passed by the Albanese government.
The TWU’s application to lift pay and conditions for rideshare workers is currently in the Fair Work Commission.
The TWU is also calling for human-less robotaxi rollout to be halted until stringent guardrails are in place, to avoid the decade of catch-up it has taken to rein in gig behemoths stripping income away from the Australian community by using loopholes in our laws.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said:
“Tech giants have spent years trying to convince governments right around the world that laws don’t apply to them because they operate through apps and algorithms.
“This High Court decision is a critical reality check to companies seeking to skirt our laws: even companies who engage workers who may not be employees will have to pay their fair share.
“Uber’s entire business model has been insidiously created by trying to distance itself from obligations under our laws, while reaping all the profits. But the time is up for gig behemoths and other tech companies who have used loopholes to squeeze from our communities and contribute nothing in return.
“Human-less robotaxi operators are banging down our doors to rip away jobs and income from our community, and this decision is a powerful reminder that the whims of tech billionaires are not an inevitability. It is possible to rein in tech companies who are side-stepping our laws, and Australia is leading the world when it comes to making sure technology benefits us instead of taking from us.”
