Acta literal de los debates

Jueves 2 de febrero de 2023 - Bruselas

5.8. Mejora de las condiciones laborales en el trabajo en plataformas digitales (A9-0301/2022 - Elisabetta Gualmini) (votación)

– Vor der Abstimmung:

  Elisabetta Gualmini, rapporteur. – Mr President, dear colleagues, today we vote for the mandate of the report on platform work to the trilogue. I’m asking you to vote in favour of this report, which is a very balanced and innovative text. I thank all the shadow rapporteurs because they have contributed to improve the text.

I would like to immediately correct the political narrative which is going on and on. No later than yesterday I got an email from Bolt saying that we would introduce a general automatic reclassification of all platform workers. This is simply not true, and even impossible legally and technically.

We are not against self—employment. If you are genuinely self-employed that is absolutely okay. We are not against job creation and innovation. But if you are bogus self—employed and, on the contrary, you are a slave of the algorithm, then you have to have your rights recognised as an employee. That is the point!

We have reached three goals: we defend the workers; we defend good employers and fair competition; and we are promoting the human use of the algorithm. We do not want machines governing the labour market. Never again should it happen that a young rider like Sebastian Galassi dies in a car accident and then is fired after he dies. This is a shame. This is a shame.

I ask you to support this text, to support social justice, which is the glue for democracy. I ask you not to disappoint the millions of workers who are waiting outside, and I ask you not to surrender to multimillionaires and powerful lobbies who try to interfere with our democratic process. Really, the conditions of workers are not an issue of right and left. It is an issue of dignity. That is why I ask you to vote in favour of this report, because this is what it is in play: social justice! On va écrire une très belle page de l’histoire européenne!

  Miriam Lexmann (PPE). – Mr President, dear colleagues, your vote today is not about whether you think platform workers should be employees or not. What we are voting on today is whether the European Parliament should effectively use its democratic procedures to debate this crucial piece of legislation.

You are also not being asked to delay the legislation, because in fact the Council is not yet ready to start a trilogue. Therefore, the European Parliament should take the time to consider and debate this crucial piece of legislation, which will fundamentally affect 28 million platform workers in Europe.

Many of us have requested, from the beginning, that this text has to ensure legal certainty. Instead, the proposed text is being interpreted differently by various stakeholders. That alone is a sign that it needs the further consideration of this House.

I accept that not everyone in this House agrees on how to best regulate this sector, but we should be able to agree that when we write the legislation we ensure that it is legally sound and that it is implementable.

Colleagues, I ask you today to allow this House to have a meaningful vote on the subject. Today, we each have the opportunity to improve the text and to achieve the goal of this directive, which is the improvement of the working conditions of platform workers, including social protection. For this reason, I call on you to vote against the committee’s decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations.