Uber is calling on Doug Ford to raise the minimum wage for gig workers to $18 an hour
Ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies is calling on the Doug Ford government to boost minimum wages for gig workers in Ontario to $18 an hour and legislate a new portable benefits package for platform-based employees.
CTV News Toronto has learned Uber Canada sent a letter to every provincial government this week calling for new "legislative standards" for app-based workers as a growing number of Canadians rely on technology companies for their income.
The letter addressed to Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton, obtained by CTV News Toronto, outlines a number of measures that the company claims would "significantly improve the quality of app-based work."
Among them, the company is urging the government to increase minimum wage for gig workers to $18 an hour -- up from the current $15 per hour — to account for time spent waiting for jobs, as well as other expenses, such as gas and insurance.
The company made the same request of other provincial governments calling for them to increase the earnings floor to 120 per cent of minimum wage, to account for expenses such as gasoline and insurance.
Uber is also calling for a "benefits fund" that would give gig workers who have an average of 20 hours of "engaged time" on an app access to money for health and dental benefits.
The company is also urging the government to legislate termination pay, occupational accident coverage and the right to join a union.
While the Ford government has been working on reforms for those in the gig economy — including a portable benefits package — it's unclear exactly when the province will overhaul the working conditions for app-based employees.
While McNaughton didn't say whether Uber's suggestions were under consideration, the minister issued a terse statement on the letter.
"If app-based companies do not protect their workers, our government will do it for them," McNaughton said in a brief statement Thursday night.
McNaughton previously said the government will appoint an advisory panel in March to research potential options for a portable health, dental and vision care plan -- but said the final recommendations will only be made in July, one month after the election.
The five-member panel would be tasked with meeting with workers, labour groups and employers and researching the limited examples of portable benefits before giving the provincial government a range of options.
Uber recently entered into an agreement with private sector union United Food and Commercial Workers Canada UFCW to represent 100,000 Canadian drivers and couriers and said, in the letter, that the proposed reforms are based on feedback from drivers.
The letter to the government was also sent on behalf of UFCW.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING 122 active wildfires burning across Canada, 32 considered 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
B.C. parents sentenced to 15 years for death of 6-year-old boy
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Speaker cuts ties with Sask. Party, alleges he faced threats, harassment from gov't MLAs
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Kevin Spacey receives star support as he fights to get his career back
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
A Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her. His lawyers argue it wasn't murder
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death southwest of Montreal
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
The latest advice for expecting parents? Sign up for childcare as soon as you're pregnant
Canada's new $10-a-day child care program is expanding, but there's growing evidence that demand for the program is rising even faster, leaving many parents on the outside looking in.