Before we get onto the big news, a quick end of year note from us. It's been a busy 2023. We've brought you 42 newsletters this year (not including this one), as well as 50 articles and 6 podcasts. We've reported directly from Madrid, Milan, London and Brussels twice (here and here). We can only do this due to the generous support of our host website, BRAVE NEW EUROPE. BRAVE NEW EUROPE's fundraiser for 2024 is currently ongoing. It has raised enough funds to survive for another year, so thank you if you are one of those who have already donated. But the website is making a final, festive request to readers to dig deep and give it the resources BRAVE NEW EUROPE needs not just to survive, but to thrive. It's a reader-funded website: it depends on your support. Please consider donating here. Now, onto the business of this newsletter. The Spanish Presidency failed to get the support of the Council of the EU on Friday [22 December] for the Platform Work Directive deal it had negotiated with European Parliament negotiators. To read the Gig Economy Project's full report on the failure of the deal, including all of the reaction to it, click here.No one should be surprised at this outcome. Let's remember, this deal was negotiated on the Council side by Yolanda Díaz, almost certainly the most left-wing Minister of Labour in the EU and the only one to have actually introduced a general presumption of employment for food delivery couriers at the national level. Díaz broke with normal practise of seeking a mandate from the Council first, and instead sought to agree a deal with EP interlocutors and then convince the Council. It didn't work. The balance of forces on the Council has always been against Spain and the six or seven other states which support an effective presumption of employment in the platform economy, a group which formed a 'blocking minority' on the Council to prevent an extremely pro-platform lobby proposal under the Czech Presidency in December 2022. Nothing changed in the past two weeks to shift that arithmetic. What is true is that Díaz had managed to secure the support of almost all of the European Parliament for this deal, except the far-right. Even the liberal Renew group, which French President Emmanuel Macron's 'Renaissance' party is part of, enthusiastically backed the provisional agreement. Also, the European Commission were on board, with Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, stating that the deal would "ensure platform workers, such as drivers and riders, receive the social and labour rights they are entitled to, without sacrificing the flexibility of the platform business model." Macron was clearly unmoved by this. His Labour Minister, Olivier Dussopt, already announced on Wednesday that they would oppose the deal. The French Government has never hidden the fact that it is opposed to employment status in the platform economy, explicitly making the case at Council meetings for its 'social dialogue' model as an alternative route to social protections for gig workers. It's clear that France will only permit a presumption of employment that it believes is sufficiently toothless to avoid platform workers being made employees on mass. However, it has to be said that France hardly stands alone. Eleven other member-states also opposed the deal on Friday, mostly an array of liberal-conservative governments with similar ideological leanings to Macron, with a couple of far-right administrations for good measure (Italy and Hungary). Somewhat ridiculously, Germany continues to abstain, as it has done throughout the process, despite the fact the government is led by the Social Democratic Party.The Belgian Presidency will take up the task of trying to find a Platform Work Directive agreement in the new year. No one in favour of a strong presumption of employment should expect the text of the Directive to get any better from here. While the Belgian Government has been in the left 'blocking minority' group on the Council, it is likely to be much more willing to compromise than Spain. Belgium introduced a presumption of employment in the platform economy on 1 January 2022 which was so badly written that it has failed to make even one gig worker an employee. It would not be surprising if something similar was served up in the few months which remain for a Platform Work Directive deal to be struck. Finding a compromise between states with fundamentally opposing points of view was always likely to be tricky. It's possible that there will be no deal before the European Parliament elections in May, in which case the process would have to begin again, under what polls suggest will be a more right-wing European Parliament. While most European workers now start a couple of weeks of paid holiday, gig workers do not, and they would be well-advised not to expect the EU's political institutions to change that reality any time soon. Ben Wray, Gig Economy Project co-ordinator
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Gig Economy news round-up |
- BELGIAN APPEALS COURT FINDS DELIVEROO RIDERS ARE EMPLOYEES: In a highly significant legal verdict, an appeals court in Brussels found that Deliveroo riders are employees and that they are entitled to sectoral collective bargaining within the transport & logistics bargaining committee. The appeals court overturned the decision of the labour court, which had found in 2021 that Deliveroo riders could be considered to be self-employed, a decision that was appealed by the ACV-CSC union, which had brought the case forward. "Deliveroo will have to pay social security contributions and adhere to applicable sector agreements," Martin Willems, leader of ACV's United Freelancers section, said. "As a result, all Deliveroo couriers are also entitled to all benefits that come with employee status, such as the applicable minimum wages, industrial accident insurance and the couriers can apply for unemployment benefits if they lose their job." Willems added that although the judgement only applied to Deliveroo, not Uber Eats - its main competitor in Belgium - the judgement "has great symbolic value, because it states that no platform can and should not work with bogus self-employed people." Deliveroo announced it will appeal against the ruling. Read more here.
- GLOVO RIDERS IN BARCELONA IN STRIKE AFTER WAITING TIME PAY AXED: Food delivery couriers working for Spanish platform Glovo refused to make deliveries on Sunday [17 December] in protest at the cancellation of waiting time payments. Video footage tweeted by the CGT Riders union showed a large group of riders in a McDonald's restaurant at Sants Estació in the Catalan capital. "Orders do not go out," CGT Riders tweeted, adding: "This week Glovo withdrew payment for the waiting time for orders.
Money that the delivery person does not receive even though it is part of his workday." Previously, Glovo riders were paid €3 for waits at restaurants for already-assigned orders. The change was one of four made by Spain's largest food delivery platform, in wha is thought to be an attempt by the company to reduce elements which could prove a relationship of subordination between the platform and its riders. Glovo has paid well over €200 million in fines and back-dated social security contributions so far for bogus self-employment and it's parent company, Delivery Hero, has set aside up to €400 million as labour inspections and fines keep coming. Glovo refused to employ its riders despite the Rider Law entering into force in August 2021, which established a general presumption of employment for food delivery couriers. Read more here.
- RIDERS IN FLORENCE PROTEST OVER SAFETY FEARS: Food delivery couriers in the Italian city of Florence protested on Tuesday [19 December] after a spate of attacks and robberies. Around 50 riders staged a sit-in in front of the police headquarters. Nicola Quondamatteo, a labour researcher, tweeted about the protest, stating that "in particular, many Pakistani workers complain about aggressions suffered during night shifts," adding that he believed migrant riders were "more exposed to violence". A report in BNN Breaking stated that the first attack involved a young Pakistani rider attacked by two individuals with pepper spray and a switchblade, who stole his phone. The second was also an attack on a Pakistani rider, with three individuals punching and kicking him before stealing his phone, money and credit card. Mattia Chiosi from the trade union Nidil Cgil said that they are collecting information on the attacks and called on the city and the platforms to ensure riders are protected from crime. Read more here.
- FRENCH LAW ON REGULARISATION DOESN'T INCLUDE RIDERS: A controversial immigration law passed in France on Tuesday [19 December] includes measures to regularise many undocumented migrant workers, but it does not take into account the situation of riders. Tens of thousands of food delivery couriers in France are believed to be undocumented migrants, working through app accounts rented from French citizens. Because they are officially self-employed, they do not fall within the purview of France's current laws on regularisation, which requires that workers produce payslips to prove they have been employed. The immigration law, which has been accused by many as being a move by Macron's centre-right government to appease the far-right, gives civil servants the power to regularise undocumented migrants in sectors where there are labour shortages, and can be applied for without the approval of the employer. However, food delivery couriers, who remain self-employed, are not mentioned in the text, meaning they will not benefit from these new provisions. Last year, thousands of former Uber Eats riders protested for weeks in Paris to demand regularisation, after the company had robo-fired around 2,000 of them overnight, leaving many with no money whatsoever. Read more here.
- THIRUVANANTHAPURAM DECLARATION SIGNED AT INTERNATIONAL PLATFORM COOPERATIVISM CONFERENCE: App workers' unions were among the signatories to the 'Thiruvananthapuram Declaration' earlier this month, a commitment to a "publicly financed, democratically governed digital commons giving communities collective ownership of their data". The Declaration was signed at the Platform Cooperativism Consortium's eighth global conference, held in the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala state, with 105 participants from 15 countries. Co-operatives in the platform economy include Co-op Cycle, an association of more than 70 bike delivery co-ops internationally, all using the Co-op Cycle software for their apps. The Declaration, which is available online to be signed by others until 31 January 2024, also advocates for a "whole of society" approach, reforms to make the co-operative sector more competitive and sustainable, increased education about co-operatives and other social models in education and training, and a sustainable digital transition. Signatories include the International Labour Organisation and the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers. Trebor Scholz, founding director of the consortium and author of 'Own This: How platform cooperatives help workers build a democratic internet', said: "Our global work underscores the potential of platform co-ops in sectors like ride-hailing, care, home services, and data governance." 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.
If you would like to write for the site, discuss arranging an interview with GEP, or simply have information about developments in the gig economy in Europe you think we should be aware of, get in touch.
Contact project co-ordinator Ben Wray at GEP@BraveNewEurope.com or send a direct message to the Twitter: @project_gig.
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