The effort of the Ministry of Labour to safeguard the rights of workers in digital platforms and food delivery service applications peaked shortly before Easter, with the submission of a mediation proposal for the negotiation of a collective agreement by the Department of Labour Relations.
According to information from Phileleftheros, the proposal was submitted to the trade unions PEYO, SEK, and DEOK, as well as fleet management companies cooperating with food delivery platforms that were involved in preceding negotiations.
The same information indicates that the trade union movement is assessing the proposal, and it is not ruled out that they may seek clarifications on certain points, but the unions believe that the submission of the mediation proposal constitutes a positive development.
It marks the first step towards regulating the sector following negotiations at the Ministry of Labour, which began in early 2023 following strike mobilizations on a specific platform towards the end of 2022.
However, the ultimate goal of the unions is for any agreement reached to apply to everyone and be implemented by everyone, essentially constituting a sectoral collective labour agreement.
Moreover, as previously reported, the unions – SEK, PEO, and DEOK – had presented a draft sectoral agreement in the past, with the aim of it being applied across the sector nationwide and, by extension, to all companies and digital platforms.
According to the unions, the goal was to determine the terms of employment and rights of workers in legitimate e-commerce food and beverage distribution companies and fleet management companies.
The sectoral agreement presented by the unions aimed to cover food distributors as freelancers with agreements with e-commerce companies, food distributors as employees of fleet management companies, as well as office staff in e-commerce and fleet management companies.
Salaries and other aspects in the proposal
The mediation service of the Ministry of Labour in the proposal submitted a few days ago initially appears to call on the parties involved to negotiate operational employment contracts, regulating various issues in the sector such as wages, safety issues, and health, among others.
Specifically, the mediation proposal includes, among other things, the establishment of minimum wages (slightly above the national minimum wage), the establishment and operation of employee welfare funds, payment of increases, regulations for overtime work and the 13th salary, and CoLA.
It is also clarified in the proposal that the provision of protective equipment for food distributors will be the responsibility of the employer.
The Ministry of Labour seems to have asked the parties involved to comment on its proposal by the end of this week or early next week at the latest.
It is noted that towards the direction of protecting food distributors, the European Parliament recently voted on new rules aimed at improving the working conditions of workers on platforms, which member states of the Union must adopt within two years.
According to a statement from the European Parliament last month, the new rules, which have already been agreed with the Council since February and approved in April with 554 votes in favour, 56 against, and 24 abstentions, aim to ensure the correct determination of the employment status of workers on platforms and address false self-employment, while regulating, for the first time in the EU, the use of algorithms in the workplace.
The decision of the European Parliament
The new legislation passed by the European Parliament introduces an evidence-based employment relationship (as opposed to self-employment), which is activated when there are actual circumstances indicating control and direction, according to national law and collective agreements, taking into account EU case law.
The Directive further obliges EU countries to establish a reversible legal employment test at the national level, aiming to correct the power imbalance between digital platform work and the person performing the work.
Specifically, the burden of proof will be on the platform, meaning it is up to them to prove that there is no employment relationship.
The Directive also regulates, for the first time in the EU, the use of algorithms in the workplace. Individuals working on platforms are not allowed to be dismissed based on a decision made by an algorithm or automated decision-making system, as platforms must ensure human oversight of significant decisions that directly affect workers.
