Extending rights and protection via agreement and representation

Foodora works council in Cologne and other German cities

Foodora riders in Cologne elected their first works council in Summer 2017. This was also the first works council to be elected by riders of the platform economy in Germany. Foodora’s riders in Cologne started organising through a Whatsapp group chat, but soon went to NGG, a German trade union active in the food, beverages […]

GMB

Hermes’ self-employed couriers now have the option to take holiday pay and have guaranteed earnings following a groundbreaking deal between the leading consumer delivery company and GMB Union. In early 2019, GMB (a union affiliated to the TUC) and the delivery company Hermes signed the first-ever collective bargaining agreement in the UK for self-employed couriers […]

Collective Bargaining Agreements to regulate gig work

Unionen, which organises white-collar workers within the private sector in Sweden, sees Swedish platform firms’ intentions to be serious actors on the labour market. A few have already signed collective bargaining agreements, and Unionen is negotiating with others. Two of the CBA:s are in the Temporal Work sector. The rationale for platform firms to sign […]

Syndicom and Mila Code of Conduct

Syndicom, the Swiss trade union for media and communication sectors, and Mila, a platform providing repair and tech services, signed a code of conduct in February 2019. It is the first such code in Switzerland. The code of conduct includes 8 principles aimed at creating trust and fairness in relations between the platform and the […]

Fairwork Foundation

The Fairwork foundation was launched in the Autumn of 2017. It gathers the expertise of several European and international universities in the fields of work practices and working conditions on digital labour platforms. Fairwork’s objectives are to imagine and help achieve a fairer platform economy with better conditions for its workers. For this, Fairwork highlights […]

3F - Hilfr

The initiative started with a landmark one-year trial agreement between the Danish Union 3F and Hilfr, a Danish platform offering house cleaning services. At the signing of the agreement, Hilfr counted about 450 workers and 1,700 customers. The trial agreement covered pensions and sickness benefits, holiday pay and collectively agreed wages. When starting their cooperation […]

Austrian collective agreement for couriers

The collective agreement for bicycle couriers and food delivery operators was negotiated between the Austrian Transport and Services Union Vida and the Association for freight transport with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The agreement, finalised in September 2019 and entered into force on 1st January 2020, was the first collective agreement for bicycle couriers in […]

Charter of fundamental rights of digital labour in the urban context

The “Charter of fundamental rights of digital labour in the urban context” is the first agreement of its kind. It was signed in Bologna on 31 May 2018 following negotiations between Riders Union Bologna [link to the initiative], the Italian Trade Unions CGIL, CISL and UIL, the Municipality of Bologna, and the platforms Mymenu and […]

Austrian workers' council at Foodora

When the platform first arrived in Austria in the autumn of 2015, most couriers were directly employed under traditional contracts of service. As a result, the platform’s workforce felt closely involved in the operations of the company, and enjoyed perks such as access to a local garage which served as a place to look after […]
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Digital Platform Observatory

The digital platform observatory is a joint initiative of ETUC, IRES and ASTREES, funded by the European Commission. It brings together trade unionists, experts, activists, specialists of workers representation and collective action in the  platform economy.