The European Parliament will vote on the draft EU law on platform work rights and whether to stop fake self-employment on platforms.
The plenary vote is due to be held on Thursday 19 January.
The ETUC is urging MEPs to vote for the position agreed in the Employment Committee after long negotiations between the political groups.
Trade unions are concerned that some members of the EPP, ECR and Renew will vote against it with the intention to further weaken the European Commission’s draft Directive.
In particular trade unions are worried that the changes supported by some MEPs would:
- stop most fake self-employed platform workers from becoming employees
- undermine the rights of the genuinely self-employed by green lighting platform companies continuing to force workers to be self-employed even if they cannot set their own fees or build a client base
Ludovic Voet, ETUC Confederal Secretary, will be in Strasbourg to represent ETUC and to speak to MEPs ahead of any vote on the rights of platform workers.
“Trade unions urge MEPs to support the Employment Committee’s report which strikes a good balance and it is the outcome of long discussions across all parliamentary groups," he said.
“It is a simple choice for MEPs. Do MEPs want working people to have fair and decent employment, or do they want fake self-employment to become even more widespread?
“Courts across Europe have ruled that platforms are employers and now MEPs need to ensure that platform companies take their responsibilities like any other business. They need to either respect the rights of the genuinely self-employed or treat all their workers as employees.”
