BE will propose a review of the law that regulates transport activities from digital platforms, and wants to introduce minimum basic fares and a maximum intermediary fee of 15% of the cost of the trip.
According to the blockers, the government should guarantee labor rights to all people who work in the sector and should require platforms operating in Portugal to have a physical presence in each county seat where they operate to serve their respective workers.
These and other recommendations to the government are contained in the draft resolution to be presented by the Bloco de Esquerda (BE), which was circulated this Thursday during a hearing among couriers, TVDE operators and drivers in Parliament.
“We have not yet presented it and we can still adjust it, depending on your intervention,” said deputy José Soeiro at the start of the session.
The session, open to digital platform workers to share their demands, featured repeated complaints that the amounts paid were not enough to cover costs, criticism of the current law and a lack of oversight.
Several workers mentioned that there was illegal and even criminal activity in the sector, and one courier admitted that he was one of several working underground: “Like us, we have to pay 23% VAT, plus social security, plus everything associated costs. We prefer to work underground,” he explained.
“I’d rather work legally, I’d rather work with Social Security, pay my taxes correctly, have industrial accident insurance. But for this I also needed to earn enough for all this,” he added.
BE initiated this hearing on the same day as the scheduled plenary debate, during which it intends to raise the situation with the government regarding couriers and drivers on digital platforms.
After a series of workers’ speeches, BE coordinator Mariana Mortagua received applause when she declared that “the economy of the future cannot be a return to the past, a salvation for those who can, without rights, without conditions, without holidays, no protection in health, no protection in illness “
Mariana Mortagua argued that “it was Uber that influenced what is written in Portuguese law” and created a “platform slave economy,” a business model in which “the platform holds the knife and the cheese in its hands to collect the intermediary fees it sees fit and still deceive in the part that is above the law.”
According to the BE coordinator, “there are too many machines for the volume of the service, there are too many licenses for the volume of the service,” and “since there are no minimum tariffs,” it turns out to be “dumping,” in which you pay for the work.”
“The economy of the future may have platforms, algorithms and flexible work hours. It cannot have labor protection and no conditions, and above all it must have income distribution,” he argued.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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