Their voices began to be heard after research institutes and established groups like the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) became involved, as the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers was formed in 2021 following then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s speech at the National Day Rally which called for better protections for platform workers.
This, Mathews said, “worked to surface some of the concerns of this group and their needs which finally resulted in the government moving to ensure that such workers had proper work injury protection and CPF adequacy”.
Since the enactment of the Platform Workers Act last year, the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), which represents delivery platform workers in Singapore, told CNA that they have gained formal recognition from major platform operators like Grab, Lalamove and GogoX.
Andy Ang, NDCA’s executive secretary, said this recognition provides the association with the “legal backing” to negotiate improved conditions for platform workers.
In January this year, under the Platform Workers Act, NDCA and two other NTUC-affiliated associations were officially registered by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower as Platform Work Associations.
“We’ve had to adapt how we engage with delivery riders as compared to salaried workers,” said Ang, whose association is affiliated with NTUC.
“Instead of meeting at fixed workplaces, we reach them through social media channels and at delivery hubs and hold regular outreach sessions at locations where riders naturally gather,” he added.
Meanwhile in Malaysia, the Gig Workers Act came after years of protests and lobbying.
“This development is not an act of benevolence. It is the product of sustained organising, vocal advocacy, and the undeniable reality that gig workers have become central to Malaysia’s transport, delivery, and digital economy,” said Masrizal of MEDO.
MEDO was among the 63 non-governmental organisations that took part in a peaceful Labour Day rally in Kuala Lumpur on May 1 this year, calling for improved workers’ rights, reported news outlet Astro Awani.
“When ministers directly address riders and drivers, when Parliament enacts laws in our name, it signals that gig workers have emerged as a political force to reckon with,” he said.
Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister Steven Sim, who championed the proposed law in parliament, described its passage as a “bold step forward” in securing social security and fairness for all gig workers in the country.
The government is “sending a strong signal that every worker matters, whether in formal sectors or informal sectors, on digital platforms or outside them”, Sim told CNA.
“The reason (for the Act) is simple – if the law does not define, it cannot defend.”
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