Brussels, (Brussels Morning)- The European Trade Union Confederation, an umbrella organisation of European trade unions, will protest to the European Parliament on Tuesday against taxi and courier service Uber. Remarkable: the socialist union ABVV-BTB is also participating, even though it concluded a ‘historic’ agreement with Uber last week.
Hearings are taking place in the European Parliament on the situation of Uber drivers and on Uber’s lobbying activities. Journalists exposed last summer on the basis of leaked documents that Uber had an aggressive lobbying strategy. The hearing should clarify to what extent that strategy has had an impact on the working conditions and rights of the people who work on the Uber platform.
“We refuse to fall into the trap of the multinational: the trivialization of a ‘third work status’, which combines the subordination of the employee in combination with the vulnerability of the self-employed person into an employee without rights,” said the Christian trade union ACV in a statement. press release. “If this situation, which the multinational has been taking advantage of for years now and continues despite laws, administrative and judicial decisions, will inevitably infect all sectors of the economy and all businesses.”
According to BRUZZ, the drivers and deliverers of platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo should actually earn at least double that. The unions believe that those who work for Uber and Deliveroo should be considered an employee and should also be given the rights of an employee. “The authorities must now force the platforms to respect the rules,” it reads.
‘Historical deal’
The transport union ABVV-BTB will also take part in the action on Tuesday, confirms BTB trade unionist Tom Peeters. However, last week, the association concluded a ‘historic deal’ with Uber. Agreements were also made about consultation moments and the union will also have a physical point of contact in Uber’s Belgian office.
The other unions reacted with incomprehension to the deal. According to Peeters, Tuesday’s action is “not against Uber, but for better legislation”. ABVV will therefore participate in it, he says. Despite the agreement, the union and Uber continue to disagree on the drivers’ status.
