Those responsible for Employment of the countries of the European Union have met this Thursday to discuss a directive that, supposedly, seeks to improve the Labor conditions of workers on digital platforms, dented under the umbrella of false freelancers. The objective was to seal a rider law common to all the territories, but the 27 Member States have failed to reach any agreement. The bloc opposed to the regulatory project, led by Spain and its Minister of Labor, Yolanda Diazhas managed with his refusal to put a stop to a precept that cut rights and did not respond to the main problems of the sector.
The owner of Worked and founder of Sumar has led the opposition to the directive for considering it little “ambitious” and in no way a guarantee of the freedoms of workers for delivery platforms. to the position of Spain the votes against have been added eight other countries: Belgium, Slovenia, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece and Romania. Also Italy, before the change of government, had demanded firmer guidelines in this regard.
Upon arrival in Brussels, Yolanda Diaz has been in favor of the initial directive, which took as a reference the rider law Spanish to defend some decent working conditions in all European countries. In his opinion, the proposal has been “devalued” in recent months, something for which he blames the current czech presidency of the Council of the European Union. On her Twitter account, the second vice president has asked not to throw in the towel and continue fighting for “set an example“globally.
The original project established five criteria to determine if the employees of digital platforms were really employed by others, with the aim of ending fraud false freelancers and ensure compliance with labor rights. “A person who travels the streets of our cities distributing by bicycle, whether in Lisbon, in Rome, in Madrid or in Warsaw and who does so in exchange for a salary under the orders of a company is a worker”, has qualified the minister, in a clear reference to the need to harmonize the regulation.
Up to three times they have debated the European ministers their positions before proceeding to the vote. The final text, which has been modified with various amendments throughout the day, was rejected with the noes from nine countries, including Spain. As Díaz has advanced, he did not meet expectations or contemplate serious advances for the workers. “It has been significantly weakened compared to the initial proposal and does not allow the correct classification of the people who work on digital platforms“, he lamented. As a consequence, the directive has not gone ahead and a more respectful and open-minded agreement is still possible.
