We stand on the side of European Platform Workers – four EU governments don’t

During the last European Council meeting in 16 February, four European leaders, the social-democrat Olaf Scholz, the liberals Emmanuel Macron and Kaja Kallas and the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, blocked for a second time a directive enshrining the rights of platform workers across the EU.

These four governments buried the prospect of legislating the protection of platform workers, since it was the last chance to pass such legislation before the upcoming end of the European Parliament’s term.

It is no coincidence that even the responsible European Commissioner, Mr Schmit, expressed his deep disappointment at the rejection of the agreement. And, on the other hand, it is no coincidence that large lobbies such as Move EU (whose members are Bolt, Uber and Free Now) are celebrating the rejection of the directive.

The German, French, Greek and Estonian government chose to serve the interests of the major international platforms (in transport, food delivery, etc.), which impose self-employed status on their employees. They chose to deprive these workers of their full recognition as salaried workers and consequently of all their relevant labor rights.

The forces of the European Left fight unwaveringly in the European Parliament to defend, safeguard and expand the labour rights of all European platform workers. Strengthening the European Left in the forthcoming European elections means strengthening the voice of the workers.