Leila Chaibi: Refusing workers rights to platform workers show how non-social European Union is

Left MEP Leila Chaibi joins Cross-Border Talks to discuss the European directive on platform workers which, if accepted, could be a great step forward in the fight against exploitation of the most vulnerable individuals. People working for Uber, Glovo or Deliveroo are, in fact, not ‘independent entrepreneurs’ as the platforms prefer to claim, and the question of their employment status was a central issue during the political discussion. Leila Chaibi, who stood for workers’ rights during the entire process, explains how the directive was worked out, how it was discussed, and how different platform lobbies did a lot to stop it. While there is still a slim chance that the directive would not be abandoned, the whole story shows how powerful pro-business lobbies are in Brussels and how far we still are from an ideal of pro-citizen, pro-social Europe.