Green MEPs have hailed the vote today in the European Parliament to back a new “European Directive on improving working conditions in platform work”. The legislation addresses issues for people working for well-known companies like Uber, Deliveroo or JustEat where workers are often misclassified as self-employed despite working up to 60-hour weeks for the digital platforms.  

Under proposals from the Parliament and European Commission, the new Directive will introduce obligations on companies to provide terms and conditions to their workers, restrict the ability of these companies to set up subsidiaries to evade controls, and completely ban the practice where workers could be fired by algorithm. It also includes measures against undue surveillance and monitoring of communications between workers which has been used in the past to dismiss workers for forming Unions.  

Speaking from the European Parliament in Brussels today, MEP Grace O’Sullivan said: ‍

“Digital companies like Uber have a massive impact on our daily lives and have amassed fortunes as a result. Many of them have HQs in Ireland. Unfortunately, too often these large companies have not used that power and wealth to improve living standards for their employees but instead have used their algorithms to command and control their workers. This has forced the EU to step in and protect people across the continent and deliver better working conditions. Today is a good outcome for workers’ rights.” 

Ciarán Cuffe, Green Party MEP for Dublin added: 

“Today is a good day for the protection of workers' rights in Europe. The exploitation of workers and other unfair employment practices by platform companies have no place in the 21stcentury. This Directive rightfully recognises that the 28 million platform workers in Europe have a right to social protection and the same rights as other employees. Today's vote is a first step towards ensuring platform companies start living up to the same standards we expect from every other company in Europe." 

The legislation made headlines last October when Irish whistleblower Mark McGann spoke to the European Parliament and unveiled the abusive practices of the company, which he alleged had engaged in union-busting activities and had spent around $100 million secretly lobbying international governments using skewed data from paid 'experts'. The EU’s accountability watchdog OLAF announced at the time that it would open investigations into former Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ move to Uber’s chief digital job.