Shamefully, EU ambassadors today rejected the compromise agreement on the Platform Workers Directive.

On the table was the light version of what we ordered. Far from the ambitious mandate of the European Parliament, the agreement  would still have made a positive difference to the 5.5 million workers in the EU who are wrongly classified as self-employed.

The final political discussions revolved mainly around the thorny question of the employment status of workers for platforms such as Uber, Deliveroo and Glovo. Since the beginning, The Left has been fighting to reverse the presumption that these workers are self-employed. But as the negotiations rolled on, the previous agreement fell apart due to divisions in the Council. A new agreement was struck last week requiring member states to legislate at national level on rebutting this presumption. Today, this was also rejected.

With the European elections fast approaching it is hard to see how this file will progress before the next mandate. The Belgian Presidency has said it will “consider next steps”. Meanwhile, the livelihoods of millions of workers in the EU now hang in the balance.

Reacting to this outcome, Left MEP Leïla Chaibi (France Insoumise) said: “Until the end, Macron did everything to prevent the adoption of the directive. Until the end, he defended the interests of Uber. Until the end he worked to deprive millions of workers of social progress. Shame on Macron. May he never again dare to present himself as a defender of Europe which protects.”

Idoia Villanueva Ruiz (Podemos, Spain) added: “Today the EU once again looks the other way by refusing to deal with the impunity of digital platforms. The Council again blocks this Directive essentially telling 28 million workers affected by Uberisation that their rights don’t matter.”

These latest developments at the EU level, as well as the ongoing fight against platforms’ intensive lobbying efforts to deregulate the sector will be discussed at an event hosted by Left MEPs Leïla Chaibi and Idoia Villanueva Ruiz next week.

The 4th edition of the Transnational Forum of Alternatives to Uberisation will take place on 21 and 22 February at the European Parliament. The event will bring together more than 100 workers, lawyers, trade unionists and Uberisation experts from across the European Union and around the world.

There are up to 28 million people working for digital platforms in the EU. Their struggle for rights is a struggle that affects all workers fighting for better pay and conditions. Casualisation and precarity, management by algorithm and a complete absence of trade unions are baked into the way that the platform economy is run. If left unchecked, and given the ruthless lobbying activities of greedy employers, there are fears that it is only a matter of time before these spread to other jobs.

Join us to find out how these workers and their allies are fighting back! A press conference with campaigners will take place outside the European Parliament on Thursday 22, 12:45 CET.

The full programme can be found here. To register, please fill out this online form. The event will be streamed here.