Trade unions are calling on politicians to stand up to intense lobbying by platform companies and deliver real rights for delivery riders, taxi drivers, carers and other workers.
Uber has bombarded social media in Belgium with over 100 adverts since September 25 in an effort to weaken the EU directive on platform work, the Meta advert library shows.
Trade unions strive towards a Europe in which working conditions and pay allow people to live in dignity. On World Day for Decent Work, the ETUC highlights three urgent measures to ensure no worker is left behind: strengthening collective bargaining, enforcing the rights of people working through online platforms and requiring all internships to be paid.
Europe needs a pay rise
ETUC and its federations: European Transport Workers’ Federation, Uni Europa, IndustriAll and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions call on policymakers to adopt a strong Directive on platform work that would end the exploitation of vulnerable workers and re-establish fair competition in a quickly developing platform economy.
Brussels, 18 September 2023
To: Members of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union
In CC: Social attachés
Dear Permanent Representatives,
EU ministers made an important step towards the next phase of negotiations on the better regulation of platform work when they agreed the European Council’s position on the directive on platform work.
But improvements are needed because:
Brussels 01 June 2023
To Permanent Representative of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union
Dear Permanent Representative,
We are contacting you to emphasize the critical importance of achieving a general mandate on the Directive on improving the working conditions in platform work at the next EPSCO meeting in June.
Actions undertaken in the framework of the EU project “Platform Reps” have allowed ETUC and its member organisations to discuss and research in depth collective and legislative approaches towards digital labour platforms. This was done in light of the ongoing discussions by the European co-legislators on the proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work. The actions focused on the challenges identified for granting protection to workers and on the possibilities for the enaction of effective legislation at national level.
Actions undertaken in the framework of the EU project “Platform Reps” have allowed ETUC and its member organisations to discuss and research in depth collective and legislative approaches towards digital labour platforms. This was done in light of the ongoing discussions by the European co-legislators on the proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work. The actions focused on the challenges identified for granting protection to workers and on the possibilities for the enaction of effective legislation at national level.
Dear Lidija and Tea,
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) wishes to express our full support for Sindikat Mladi Plus, a member of our Slovenian member organization ZSSS, in their efforts of organising workers and to engage in collective bargaining with Wolt and Glovo, two digital labour platforms operating in Slovenia.
We are extremely concerned by the negative response of these companies to undertake collective bargaining with Sindikat Mladi Plus, citing that their workers are self-employed and therefore cannot be represented by the union.
The European Parliament has taken an important step towards ending bogus self-employment and precariousness in digital labour platforms.
Delivery riders, cab drivers, content creators, programmers, click-workers, engineers and carers are among 28 million workers who would benefit from the provisions in the Employment Committee’s report which passed its plenary vote today.
MEPs voted to end the system of false self-employment used by platform companies to cut costs at the detriment of workers’ pay and conditions.
Dear MEPs,
The mandate of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on the proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work has been challenged by a group of MEPs and it will therefore be subject to vote in the plenary on Thursday.
The European Parliament will vote on the draft EU law on platform work rights and whether to stop fake self-employment on platforms.
The plenary vote is due to be held on Thursday 19 January.
The ETUC is urging MEPs to vote for the position agreed in the Employment Committee after long negotiations between the political groups.
Trade unions are concerned that some members of the EPP, ECR and Renew will vote against it with the intention to further weaken the European Commission’s draft Directive.
The ETUC is calling on national ministers to reject the proposal of the Czech presidency on the platform work directive.
The Czech proposal, which would weaken the directive, was rejected at COREPER last week following objections from eight member states.
However, the Czech presidency has still failed to respond to concerns about their proposal and is pressing ahead in putting a largely unchanged proposal which they will present again to COREPER on Wednesday before trying to secure the agreement of ministers at EPSCO on Thursday.
Their proposal would:
To: Members of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union
In CC: Social attachés
Brussels, November 21st 2022
Dear Ambassador,
To: Member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament
Brussels, November 2nd 2022
Dear Member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee at the European Parliament,
As we enter November, a month that will be decisive in the work of the European Parliament to define your mandate on the Directive, ETUC wants to thank you for your efforts to reach broad support in the combat of bogus self-employment and better protection of platform workers’ rights.
For ETUC, it is essential that the mandate includes:
This letter is a joint plea of trade unions, cooperative enterprises, and non-governmental organisations to the European institutions for an effective Directive on improving working conditions in platform work.
We do not oppose digitalisation but believe that it should always provide social improvements, respect working conditions, and be developed in cooperation with workers and trade unions.
Dear Ministers, Dear Ambassadors,
In December 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal of Directive on improving working conditions in platform work, which included a presumption of employment relationship for workers in digital labour platforms.
Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament
Dragoş Pîslaru, Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs at the European Parliament
Dear Ms Metsola,
Dear Mr Pîslaru,
Certainly, you are aware of the documents made available by different media revealing Uber’s lobbying malpractices towards the EU institutions and Member States.
Dear Ms Gualmini,
Based on the discussion in the EMPL Committee on 12th July, you are well aware of the scandal of the Uber papers, revealing Uber’s lobbying towards the EU institutions and Member States.
The following letter is a joint plea of organisations of self-employed workers and trade unions, which has been sent to the French Labour Minister in view of the progress report discussion of EPSCO Council of today, calling on the European institutions for an effective Directive on improving working conditions in platform work. Our demands are the following.
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
Thank you all for being with us. It's great to see you in person and to organize this exchange at an important moment in the Directive's agenda to improve the working conditions of platform workers.
