So here we go again. A few days before Christmas, EU member-states rejected the Spanish Presidency's provisional agreement on the Platform Work Directive (PWD), which leaves the new Belgian Presidency of the EU, which began on 1 January, with the responsibility to try to strike a deal. And time is running out. Thomas Göransson, International Secretary for EU Affairs at Swedish union Unionen and a regular provider of information on 'X' about the state of play on PWD, has said that any agreement between the Belgian Presidency and European Parliament interlocutors "must be confirmed by the Member States by mid-February" to give the Directive the chance to be officially finalised before the European Parliament term ends in April. That means there's just one month to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable divisions over PWD, most problematically in relation to a presumption of employment for platform workers.Théo Bourgery-Gonse, Euractiv reporter, has tweeted about a note he has seen from the Belgian Presidency, in which it states that the Spanish-negotiated provisional agreement will "needs to serve as basis for further negotiation", but identifies six key points for revision: "- Criteria/indicators for triggering the legal presumption,
"- Derogation for social security, tax and criminal proceedings,
"- discretion of competent national authorities in case they consider that a person might be wrongly classified,
"- the effects of reclassification decisions,
"- consequences of non-rebuttal or unsuccessful rebuttal,
"- overly prescriptive character of the supporting measures."As Bourgery-Gonse points out, these are "the most critical elements of the directive". The derogations and discretions mentioned pertain to specific aspects of the Council of the EU proposal in June, which when looked at in combination provide wide-scope for member-states to effectively opt-out from the presumption of employment if they so wish. Once again we seem to be back to the Council battling for the European Parliament to give-up on its proposal and accept almost entirely the Council's mandate: less a negotiation than a submission.Certainly, this is what France has in mind. Bourgery-Gonse has also published details of a document by the French Government about the Spanish-negotiated provisional agreement, dated 10 January. The document makes it absolutely clear that Emmanuel Macron's government expects the Spanish-agreement to be chucked in the bin, insisting that Belgium “restart discussions on a working version as close as possible to the general approach adopted by the Council".The problems which France has with the Spanish agreement (which, remember, was also backed by the European Commission, as well as the group Macron's party is part of in the European Parliament, 'Renew') are principally over the question of the presumption of employment. They include that the 2/5 criteria does not "constitute an element of security enabling genuine self-employed to remain self-employed" and that the specific criterion proposed in the Spanish agreement are too broad and would “be likely to be systematically met” and therefore the presumption would "apply automatically to all platforms".Other disagreements include the obligation to inform national authorities over a possible case of wrongful classification, which France considers to be an administrative burden, and the requirement that national competent authorities (such as labour inspectorates) are required to provide complainants with assistance and can trigger the presumption themselves, which are considered to be non-compliant with France's judicial system.We should remember that France does not stand alone on the Council. Nine other member-states (Greece, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania and the Czech Republic) expressed their opposition to the provisional agreement. Since the beginning of this process, France has been in the vanguard of those states which are hostile to a presumption of employment with teeth, a dynamic which is unlikely to change at this stage. Furthermore, three states indicated they would abstain (Germany, Belgium (as incoming President) and Italy)), and just five actively expressed support for Spain's provisional agreement (Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Portugal), the rest not making their position clear. France cannot claim to command the majority of states, but with the German abstention they certainly appear to command enough to ensure that no proposal without their support will reach the 65% of states representing the total EU population which is required for the Council to agree to any new EU legislation. Like it or not, Macron has significant leverage over the directive.For Elisabetta Gualmini, lead European Parliament negotiator, and those states, like Spain, which want to see a strong presumption of employment, the question they now have to grapple with is: how many concessions are too many? To put it more precisely, what presumption of employment criteria would be so weak that it would be underneath current case law, thus endangering the gains platform workers have already made in courts across the continent?A meeting of experts from member-states will gather on 16 January to discuss all of this, and the next 'trilogue' has been pencilled in for 22 January. With the clock-ticking, the pressure on Gualmini and others to agree to something instead of nothing will ramp up enormously. But is a bad PWD really better than no PWD? Or to put it another way, how many compromises can you swallow before you become compromised? Ben Wray, Gig Economy Project co-ordinator
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Gig Economy news round-up |
- FRENCH UNIONS REJECT FOOD DELIVERY PLATFORMS' PAY OFFER: Negotiations over pay rates of food delivery couriers in France were held on Wednesday [10 January], but failed to lead to a breakthrough. The Association of Independent Platforms, which includes Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Stuart Delivery, offered an increase in the pay per hour of activity from €11.75 to €14, but the unions which organised the national riders' strike on 2-3 December, CGT and Union-Indépendants, rejected the proposal, with CGT stating that it was "a totally inadequate proposal that shows real contempt for delivery drivers" and is "already in place at Uber Eats". Pay per hour of activity does not include waiting time, which can take up between a third and half of a riders' time at work. The CGT reiterated their demands for the complete withdrawal of Uber Eats' new payment system, which sparked the strike, payment for waiting time, and for the platforms to contribute towards the cost of social protection for the riders. They said that both unions were seeking an expert appraisal of Uber Eats' algorithm due to a lack of transparency over how pay rates are set. "All the organisations have undertaken to meet again to discuss the terms and conditions for nationwide action, and are prepared to go on strike again," CGT added.
- SPANISH LABOUR INSPECTORATE TO INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL WORKING ON FOOD DELIVERY PLATFORMS: Spain's Labour Inspectorate is investigating illegal working at Glovo and Uber Eats, the Spanish Government announced last week. The move is the latest clampdown on illegal practices at Spain's two largest food delivery platforms, with ongoing civil and criminal prosecutions for false-self employment following the passing of 'the Rider Law' three years ago, which established a general presumption of employment in the food delivery sector. Joaquín Pérez-Rey, the Secretary of State for Labour, said on 4 January: "The Labour and Social Security Inspection carries out a systematic campaign in the delivery platforms to ensure compliance with the Rider Law and that, although it primarily seeks to prevent the use of false freelancers , it also addresses conduct by which foreign workers are used without authorisation, licenses are subcontracted, etc. Hiring these workers is an illegality that the Inspection pursues and verifies." The Gig Economy Project understands that in big Spanish cities, the majority of food delivery couriers are undocumented workers, operating through the accounts of those with the right-to-work, for which they pay a rent in the region of 25-50% of wages earned for usage. This illegal sub-letting practise has been made relatively easy due to the use of 'substitutes', where riders have the right to substitute their account to others, who do not have to go through the same ID checks. In December, Glovo expanded its substitute policy so that a rider can now have up to 10 substitutes. The Labour Inspectorate's crackdown means Glovo and Uber Eats, which already face massive fines for false self-employment, could also face severe punishment for enabling illegal working. Read more here.
- UNDOCUMENTED WORKER IDENTIFIED AT JUST EAT IN MILAN: An undocumented worker was working for Just Eat in the northern Italian city of Milan, despite the fact that the company employs their riders. It was thought that undocumented riders only work through rented accounts on platforms who hire their workers on an 'independent contractor' basis, like Uber Eats and Glovo, but 'Milano Today' reported on a case on Tuesday [9 January] which suggests that the use of false identities also exists at Just Eat, Europe's largest food delivery platform. The riders have several meeting points in the city for starting their shift and their Just Eat line managers see them by face and have a list of all of their first and second names but no photos or other forms of identity checks, according to one Italian rider, Donato. "There is no further control, which is why there was one rider who worked under a false name for eight months before they found out," he told the newspaper. "The captain, who asked him for his name and surname, [was] unable to verify it in any other way, [and] had taken his statements at face value," another rider, Carlo, confirmed. A Just Eat source confirmed the dismissal of a rider operating using a false identity. A Just Eat spokesperson stated that they put "in place a system of checks and verifications of the identity of its fleet" and that "there may be cases in which it is the company that is misled as to the real user of the company account".
- FRENCH UBER DRIVERS' STRIKE OVER INCREASE IN NUMBER OF DRIVERS: A strike of Uber drivers took place on Monday [8 January] in Marseille, Nantes and Paris against an increase in the 'numerus clausus', the fixed number of drivers who can operate with a VTC license. The drivers fear more drivers will reduce the amount of journeys each driver can get. In Marseille, 200 drivers protested in the city before occupying the motorway to the airport, with Ilias Mézouar, spokesperson for the Union of Marseille VTC Drivers (UCVM), stating that 5,000 new drivers in the Marseille region in 2024 "will not allow everyone to work". UCVM also want drivers to be limited to driving in one region, as many drivers enter Marseille from other regions during the busy holiday season. The drivers also want access to Olympic routes, with the Paris Olympics just months away. They have also demanded that France supports the Platform Work Directive provisional agreement in December. David Tan, spokesperson for the VTC 44 collective and local representative of the INV union in Nantes, said 50 to 80 drivers protested there. “As with taxis, we must limit the number of VTCs so as not to harm our commercial development,” he said. An Uber spokesperson responded to the strike by stating: “The demand for trips on Uber has increased significantly and although new drivers have joined us, their number still does not allow us to carry out all the trips ordered." Read more here.
- CABIFY DRIVERS IN MADRID CONTINUE STRIKE AFTER TALKS BREAKS DOWN: Cabify drivers took strike action and protested outside the headquarters of Cabify in Madrid on Friday [12 January], after talks to settle the dispute broke down. The action by the Free Transport Union (SLT), the largest union in the Madrid VTC sector, was the fifth day of strikes, and they are set to continue until the end of the month at least. In Spain all VTCs operate via sub-contracting firms, and the dispute centres on Vecttor, a sub-contractor accused by the union of non-compliance with Spanish VTC regulations, including not recognising all of the working hours of the drivers, non-payment of night hours, non-payment of overtime, and illegal deduction of VAT from the tips the workers receive. Cabify reached an agreement earlier in the week with BBVA bank for a €15 million loan, and José María Cazallas, secretary of SLT, said that the money should be used to pay the money "they currently owe to their workers". Negotiations hosted by an arbitration body on Thursday lasted several hours but no agreement was struck. Read more here.
Have we missed something important? You can help keep us informed by sending information to GEP@BraveNewEurope.com. |
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The Gig Economy Project is a media network for gig workers and we welcome contributions from workers, writers, academics, activists - anyone who wants to stand up for workers' rights in the gig economy.
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