In his speech during the debate on the Platform Workers Bill, Workers' Party Chief and Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh, laid out his support for the bill while raising significant concerns regarding its impact on both platform workers and consumers.
The bill, which follows the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers, seeks to strengthen protections for platform workers in three critical areas: ensuring financial security in the event of work-related injuries, improving retirement and housing adequacy through mandatory CPF contributions, and enhancing the overall representation of platform workers.
While Mr Singh supported the bill’s intent to address these vulnerabilities, he raised concerns about the inevitable price hikes for consumers of platform services, such as food delivery and ride-hailing, as platform companies adjust to the new regulatory requirements.
He questioned whether platform companies would pass on the increased costs of CPF contributions and work injury compensation to workers by manipulating their payment algorithms, thus potentially reducing their take-home pay.
He stressed that any significant price increases must be carefully managed, or it could lead to a reduction in demand for platform services, negatively impacting platform workers’ income.
Mr Singh also drew attention to the government’s survey findings, which indicated that while a majority of consumers were willing to pay more to support better protections for platform workers, their tolerance for price increases was limited.
He called on the Minister to clarify how much prices were expected to rise and how those increases would be distributed across consumers, platform companies, and workers.
Негізгі бет Pritam Singh: Fair Protections Without Burdening Workers in the Platform Workers Bill
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