On Thursday (2 February), an important vote will take place in the European Parliament on the rights of platform workers (people working for digital platforms such as Deliveroo or Uber). 

Some right-wing MEPs are trying to sabotage an agreement reached in December that would grant these workers basic rights such as sick pay, maternity leave and holiday pay. This file has been dogged by aggressive lobbying from corporate actors from the start. 

The Left is fighting back and will vote against this attempt to renege on workers’ rights. 

As Leïla Chaibi said: “The Parliament has the opportunity to decide whether the Platform Workers Directive is pro-worker or pro-lobby. In the midst of the Uber Files and the cash for favours scandal, we need to show that the European Parliament works for workers and citizens.”

The vote concerns the platform workers directive proposed by the European Commission that would grant employment status to these workers for the first time. Genuinely independent workers will remain outside the scope of this directive. 

In December 2022, MEPs from the Employment and Social Affairs Committee reached an agreement that would reclassify workers and put the onus on employers like Uber or Deliveroo to prove otherwise. 

Disappointed with the result, some right-wing MEPs employed dirty tricks and did everything in their power to try to sabotage the agreement. In January, some 85 MEPs signed a letter asking for the agreement to go to plenary so that all 705 MEPs would vote on the text. If they are successful on Thursday, there is a strong likelihood that the agreement will be watered down.

If we manage to stop them, the agreement then goes to trilogue, further negotiation between the European Parliament and the Council. 

Whatever the outcome of this vote, this is a long battle. The Left is ready, ready to deliver rights!

Get involved! Let’s deliver rights – sign our petition!

For more information about the platform workers directive and what is at stake, watch here.