Tada partners platform-worker groups to beef up workers’ skills, deepen collaboration

TWO platform-worker associations affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ride-hailing platform Tada, in a move aimed at protecting the interests of its platform workers in Singapore.

Under the MOU signed Wednesday (Nov 29), the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) and the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA) will curate training courses in customer-service, safer-driving techniques and also personal grooming and branding, so Tada platform workers can deliver a “smooth, safe and comfortable commute” for consumers and themselves.

The three parties also intend to review Tada’s onboarding and training initiatives from time to time to ensure inclusivity in the ride-hailing platform’s hiring and training practices.

NPHVA, NDCA and Tada said their agreement marks the start of a deeper collaboration that would entail collective discussions on issues affecting Tada’s platform workers. It will also open them up to social, engagement, and member-recruitment opportunities.

Under the MOU, Tada will, for a year, subsidise the membership fees for 600 new partners who sign up as union members. Those who complete 200 trips within the first month of on-boarding will be eligible for this subsidy.

NPHVA general secretary Joseph Goh said being union members will give these platform workers access to “a suite of social, recreational and training benefits, contributing to the improvement of their overall well-being”.

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Noting Tada’s expanding footprint in the delivery space in Singapore, NDCA general secretary Tay Shih Siang said: “We will continue to engage more delivery operators and strive for a fair and sustainable working environment for our delivery workers.”

This year in August, NPHVA and NDCA signed an MOU with Grab to provide training programmes that will develop Grab workers’ skills and raise their productivity so they can earn more.

Both MOUs follow the recommendations unveiled in July by the Tripartite Workgroup on Representation for Platform Workers; these recommendations outline a framework for the formal recognition of platform workers, to be facilitated by legislative changes in the later part of 2024.

A new body representing platform workers will be registered under the new legislation, under the guidance of the NTUC.