The European Parliament and member states on December 13 agreed on a reform that could have been the world's first covering conditions for platform workers.
The draft law said people working through apps, such as ride-hailing drivers, could be reclassified as employees and thus gain access to labour rights and social protection.
If a worker meets two out of five criteria set out in the legislation it will be presumed they are an employee. France objects to the automatic reclassification.
Spain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, opted not to hold a vote during a meeting of EU ambassadors on Friday because there was not enough support for the deal, EU diplomats told AFP.
France, backed by the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden, said they could not support the agreed text, an EU diplomat said.
Approval requires a qualified majority of 15 out of 27 EU nations, representing at least 65 percent of the bloc's population.
France, the EU's second biggest economy, hit out at the agreement this week, claiming it was different to the draft text agreed by member states only in June this year.
"When you move towards (rules)... that would allow massive reclassifications, including self-employed workers who value their self-employed status, we cannot support it," French Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt said on Wednesday.
- 'Slap in the face' -
French left-wing lawmakers were quick to blame France for the blockage.
"Rejection by 'Paris'," French socialist MEP Aurore Lalucq said on social media.
"This government prefers Uber over workers' rights and Europe," she added.
Another MEP, Leila Chaibi, said French President Emmanuel Macron had "organised the torpedoing of the European platform workers' agreement".
The European Transport Workers' Federation also slammed the lack of agreement.
"The unjust stalling of a crucial agreement for platform workers' basic rights, blocked by a vocal few, is a slap in the face to the tireless efforts of taxi drivers and delivery workers, particularly at their busiest time of the year," it said.
The text agreed last week will now have to be renegotiated with the parliament.
The EU's jobs and social rights commissioner, Nicolas Schmit, was still hopeful that Belgium, which holds the presidency from January, will succeed in getting approval.
"I have full confidence in the Belgian presidency to successfully complete this very important file," he said.
There are around 28 million gig workers dependent on online platforms in Europe, and the number is expected to rise to 43 million in 2025.
The EU parliament believes at least 5.5 million people could be wrongly classified as self-employed.
Belgian courts agrees Deliveroo couriers are 'employees'
Brussels (AFP) Dec 22, 2023 -
A Belgian court ruled Friday that two dozen couriers for food delivery app Deliveroo should be classified as employees, a defeat for the firm that could grant workers more benefits.
The judgement in the test case, which was backed by labour unions, overturned an earlier ruling that went in the British company's favour.
"There is reason to reclassify the employment relationship between the couriers and Deliveroo Belgium as an employee-employer relationship and to apply the social security regime for salaried workers," the ruling from the Brussels labour court said.
Deliveroo said it was "disappointed" by the verdict.
"The judgment does not take sufficient account of the specificities of our working model. Deliveroo is carefully studying the judgment and will then appeal," it said.
But it was hailed as an "important milestone" by Martin Willems, who heads a collective representing couriers.
"Delivery workers can now claim the social and labour rights that apply to all other workers, starting with correct remuneration, the right to paid leave and their salary in the event of illness," Willems said.
The court will now examine the financial consequences of the judgement for the couriers concerned, in terms of payment of contributions and regularisation of salaries.
The ruling in Belgium comes after Spain last year became the first country in the European Union to approve legislation recognising delivery riders for firms such as Deliveroo or UberEats as staff.
The EU is eyeing a law to reclassify people working through apps, such as ride-hailing drivers, as employees throughout the bloc.
But that draft legislation was rejected on Friday by a coalition of countries spearheaded by France, in a move that drew condemnation from left-wing lawmakers and unions.
US court rules Twitter breached contract over failure to pay bonuses A US federal court ruled on Friday that social media company Twitter, now branded X, violated contracts by failing to pay annual performance bonuses it orally promised its workers.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit was brought by former employer Mark Schobinger in June.
The lawsuit said Twitter had promised workers a 2022 performance bonus if they stayed with the company through the final possible payout date, which was the first quarter of this year.
The court threw out Twitter's attempts to have the case dismissed, ruling that Schobinger's claim of breach of contract under California law was valid.
"Schobinger has plausibly stated a breach of contract claim under California law. He alleges that Twitter orally promised to pay each employee a portion of the bonus contemplated," wrote US District Judge Vince Chhabria.
"And by allegedly refusing to pay Schobinger his promised bonus, Twitter violated that contract," said the judge.
X can still appeal the court's decision.
The social network now owned by Elon Musk, is currently facing multiple headwinds, including an EU probe under a law designed to combat disinformation and hate, criticism of the platform's response to recent rioting in Dublin, and an exodus of big-name advertisers.
The company is now worth less than half of the $44 billion he paid for it in October 2022, according to internal documents sent to staff and reported by tech publication The Verge.
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