Umno will continue to defend the fate of workers in the gig-economy industry, says Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR - Umno will continue defend the fate of workers in the gig-economy, says Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He pledged the party’s commitment during the last day of the Umno General Assembly at the World Trade Centre here today in front of more than 30 members of Malaysia E-Hailing Coalition.

Zahid said the group delivered a memorandum to Umno in hopes that the party will fight for the rights all e-hailing workers nationwide.

"We will fight for the fate of gig workers across the country," he said to reporters.

Yesterday, Zahid had proposed for the government to establish a “Malaysia Gig-Economy Commission” to regulate the gig-industry ecosystem.

He was quoted saying that it was also to safeguard the welfare of the entire economic chain starting from service providers, suppliers, workers and consumers.

Persatuan Penghantar P-Hailing Malaysia (Penghantar) president Zulhelmi Mansor said the commission could solve many ongoing problems in the gig economy.

“There are many problems that has been happening for more than two years.

“This would be one of our demands as part of delivery rights where the gig-economy commission be the regulatory body to manage all critical issues,” he told Sinar Daily today.

Zulhelmi outlined a list of issues which includes income instability that has continuously plagued the workers, stating that by establishing a floor price and coin price would be a suitable alternative.

He also highlighted the need to solve the problem of digital maps as the distance show in the map did not made any sense and burdened the riders.

"We don't want a bombastic change, we only want our rights as Malaysians and hope these problem can be sorted out," he said.