Open letter to co-legislators: Workers across sectors united behind the EP proposal to fight bogus self-employment

Today, 19 September 2023, UNI Europa joins the call by the ETUC and other European trade union federations — ETF, IndustriAll and EFFAT — on policymakers to adopt a strong Directive on platform work that would end the exploitation of vulnerable workers and re-establish fair competition in a quickly developing platform economy.

As the three European institutions — European Council, European Commission and European Parliament — are engaged in trilogue negotiations on the final text, the letter stands firmly behind the proposal of MEP Gualmini and the majority of the European Parliament and calls for a strong Directive that will:

• Combat bogus self-employment in platform work thanks to the presumption of employment with the reversal of the burden of proof; it is time that platforms take the responsibilities that they have avoided for so long.
• Promote collective bargaining and independent trade unions in shaping the platform economy while encouraging collective agreements that go beyond the requirements of the Directive in terms of workers’ rights, benefits and protections. 
• Introduce a minimum floor of rights for all platform workers with no opt-out options for Member States that would undermine the functioning and future policymaking in our Union.

Read the full letter here.