Don’t GIG up, never! Extending social protection to GIG workers in Europe

The project Don’t GIG up, never! intends to deepen the activities successfully implemented in Don’t GIG up! by strengthening its partnership, enlarging geographical coverage, and providing a closer focus on selected categories of platforms.

A closer look at some lesser-known platforms

Though the public debate has mainly focused on transport and delivery platforms such as Glovo, Foodora and Deliveroo, platform work has recently been increasing in other areas where the role of platforms may be more blurred. Don’t GIG up, never! aims to shed light on the working conditions in such platforms that have currently remained at the margin of the debate.

These platforms cover a wide array of services, provided online or in person, ranging from low-skilled tasks such as data cleaning services supplied by Amazon Mechanical Turk, to cleaning and personal care services, website editing and graphic works, and even regulated professions such as platforms of lawyers, journalists or health professionals.

Building on the success of Don’t GIG up!, this new project aims to analyse such platforms, focusing on the working conditions of platform workers as well as the terms and conditions applied by platforms, through a series of interviews with workers, social partners and professional associations.

The project will also deliver a model of Terms and conditions of service following the existing EU and domestic legal frameworks on the most notable aspects (e.g. terms and conditions of employment, monitoring of workers, privacy and rating, applicable legislation for employment and social security purposes).

Main objectives

The main objectives of the project are:

• To improve expertise and knowledge on the role unions and social dialogue can play with regards to protection of platform workers.
• To identify policy options and tools ensuring social protection of platform workers;
• To identify policy options and tools to guarantee adequate and effective rights for platform workers vis-à-vis their employers or clients;
• To support unions in developing effective strategies to organize and represent platform workers;
• To identify pathways for exploiting the potential positive effects of gig economy and platform-based work, like the potential to bring back ‘gigs’ traditionally performed in the undeclared economy within the reach of labour and fiscal rules.

Countries

This research, led by FGB, will be complemented with country-specific information implemented by each partner in their relevant countries, namely France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Country findings will be integrated and updated and a country report for Estonia will be added. 

Associate partners

The project includes the cooperation of the following associate partners: European Trade Union Confederation-ETUC, Confederation General du Travail- Force Ouvriere-FO (FR), Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarnosc" (PL), Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft- Ver.di Unionen (DE), Consiglio Nazionale dell'Economia e del Lavoro (IT).