| Hey everyone, it's Natalia. Gig work is facing a true reckoning in Europe, and there's at least one major food delivery platform in the region that's happy about it. First, for those who missed it, Uber Technologies Inc. suffered a defeat on Friday in Britain's Supreme Court after a ruling that the company must treat its drivers as workers and give them vacation pay, rest breaks and a minimum wage. The U.K. judgment followed a similar court ruling in France last year. In Spain, the government is seeking to change laws that could require food-delivery platforms to formally employ couriers. And this Wednesday, the European Union is set to launch a consultation with trade unions and employers to improve conditions for gig workers, which could culminate in new rules being proposed later this year. Perhaps nobody is more welcoming of all this than Jitse Groen, the chief executive officer of Dutch food delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway.com NV. In contrast to Uber and Deliveroo, the Dutch food delivery firm pays its drivers hourly wages and other benefits as part of its Scoober service, while its profitable marketplace service lets restaurants deliver the food themselves.
The Dutch entrepreneur has long snubbed the gig worker model, at times openly questioning whether companies like Uber and Deliveroo are breaching the law in Europe with that system. In a letter to Financial Times editors published Friday, Groen said platforms' use of independent contractors "has led to precarious working conditions across Europe, the worst seen in a hundred years" and added that "we need clarification that platform jobs have always been what they are: jobs."
The regulatory crackdown in Europe is especially relevant since the coronavirus pandemic transformed many gig economy laborers into essential workers—delivering food or groceries to people stuck at home. It has highlighted a gaping difference: Regular staff are entitled to paid sick leave if they catch the coronavirus, but many couriers are not. Concern exists around whether the economic fallout from the pandemic could push more people to gig economy jobs in the future to make ends meet.
But stricter labor laws could curtail those types of opportunities, both Uber and Spanish app Glovo have warned. Requiring platforms to employ workers could limit flexibility for drivers and couriers and negatively impact the availability of their services for customers, they say. Takeaway's Groen has also grumbled that its Scoober service digs into profit due to the costs of employing drivers. Despite that, the company is expanding the service in places like the U.K. because it attracts a wider set of customers by linking to more premium restaurants that wouldn't normally deliver themselves. Friday's U.K. ruling comes at a time when Takeaway is aggressively competing with Uber and Deliveroo for market share in the food delivery industry in the U.K. Groen could be a beneficiary of their misfortunes. —Natalia Drozdiak | 
♯⊗⋮ 2020 Noticias del Gran Mundo PelÃcula Completa En LÃnea released 2020. story: Cinco años después del fin de la Guerra Civil estadounid...
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