The issue of uberization of employment and the economy has again come to the fore in the European Parliament. At least parliamentarians, who have historically opposed the activities of international platforms and, as they explain, the intense lobbying they conduct against public and national public institutions. “They are always in Brussels acting as a lobby,” they said. How could it be otherwise, the famous Uber documents and the connection of French President Emmanuel Macron with technology and its protection in the Gallic country have again surfaced.
A group of parliamentarians made up mainly of Podemos leaders in Brussels and advocating for taxi activities, also present at the meeting, celebrated recent victories in labor affairs on platforms in Europe and against Uberization. A sector that, according to community data, will grow from 28 million Europeans today to 43 million in 2025. And while they defend job creation, they point out that in the current environment, there is a risk of falling into unreliable platforms.
Leila Chaibi, a French MEP, pointed to a paradigm shift with regard to European uberisation. “Where platforms thought their workers couldn’t organize, we came in and got it,” he said. This was followed by the participation of Yolanda Diaz, the Minister of Labor, who is now on her way to form her own party.
As the originator of the Passenger Law and strongly opposed to uberisation, the first of its kind in Europe, the minister intervened via video. “Innovation serves the common good, it should speak of a new contract with the digital society,” he notes. In the case of the Ryder Act, he points out that “it involves adapting labor laws to the 21st century.” And, he adds, “the law protects the rights of workers, even if the boss is an algorithm.”
Now limited to the rider sector connected to the world Delivery and its complete uberization, Diaz confirmed what he had already announced in the presentation of the Law almost a year ago. The intention is to extend this rule to the rest of the platform related groups. With texts with their own specifications, so profiles were not added to these rules.
The problem of Europe with platforms and the so-called uberization
While the theory is clear, the practice lives light years away from political decisions to combat uberization. Yolanda Diaz herself ran into trouble at the gates of her own Law: a year after it went into effect, two of the biggest platforms in the industry had already announced they would go their separate ways. Glovo, days after hearing the legal text, decided it would continue with its self-employment model. Uber Eats has moved to an outsourcing model. The offer ran for a year. Now, with the end of the summer, the American has announced that he will mix the subcontracting model with the self-employment model. Other companies also preferred subcontracting.
Problem beyond uberization? Ryder’s Law sought direct recruitment from global technology companies. Delivery. It just didn’t happen. Nor does it have dyes to pass in the near future. Yes, it’s true that the job portfolio has announced that if Uber or Glovo decide to circumvent the rules, they will take action. The Spanish brand has never changed its model and Labor has never taken any action. Now we’ll have to wait to see if there are any changes to Uber Eats.
But Labor, and also at the behest of Europe, has a big problem with uberisation. What they are well aware of. Checks are not enough to control what, including from subcontractors, is transported irregularly. Now that the sector is thriving, Europe faces a much bigger challenge.
Source: Hiper Textual
