A-Infos (en) Italy, UCADI, #205 - The New Slaves (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

With the aim of expanding and modernizing the exploitation of so-called 
"poor labor," entrepreneurs around the world have decided to introduce 
and experiment with new forms of exploitation that make the most of the 
opportunities offered by apps and modern communication and work 
organization platforms.
The scandalous situation of exploitation in which these workers operate 
should have drawn the attention of politicians and prompted them to 
promote laws to protect these jobs, or at least mitigate the level of 
exploitation to which these workers are subjected.
Faced with silence and inaction from the legislator, the surviving 
provisions of labor legislation, the fruit of the cycle of struggles of 
the 1970s, have been used by some judges to intervene, with the aim of 
curbing exploitation and preventing at least its most virulent forms.
The workers' disputes began with the struggles of call center workers, 
who denounced intense forms of exploitation, with nearly impossible 
working hours, low wages, a lack of social security and pension 
protection, and the adoption of a work organization that exploited every 
opportunity to deconstruct work and pass it off as an individual service 
in order to avoid the subordinate employment relationship that would 
have entailed the obligation to fulfill numerous obligations, deemed 
burdensome by the company but essential for the workers.
After long struggles, call center workers obtained minimal protection 
regarding pay, working conditions, and social security rights. But the 
employers' response was immediate and radical: the call centers were 
closed and the business transferred abroad, recruiting in more flexible 
countries lacking union and social security protection, and certainly 
with lower wages for the workers called upon to replace them.
But the market entry of these new forms of work, deemed by some labor 
experts, labor sociologists, and economists to be "innovative" and 
responsive to the business needs of companies concerned with protecting 
the right to exploitation and maximizing profits, expanded with the 
introduction of Uber's services into the Italian market. Here too, over 
time, enforcement action was initiated, and the judiciary rightly 
sanctioned the company's behavior, deeming the employees to be employed 
by the company and requiring the latter to pay the necessary social 
security contributions and provide all the guarantees inherent to an 
employment relationship. In this case, once again, the company's 
response was to abandon the Italian market, rather than obey the court 
order.
We now face a new category, one that has grown enormously thanks to the 
spread of home delivery services for food and goods. We're referring to 
the activities of riders employed by companies like Glovo, which 
absorbed Foodinho Srl, and numerous others that use a platform and an 
algorithm to direct and manage their riders to provide the service, 
believing them to be self-employed and freely performing their services. 
The company cites as proof of this the right of these workers to refuse 
the call.
Furthermore, this time Glovo has even secured its position by signing a 
collective bargaining agreement with the fascist unions UGL and 
Assodelivery, which are willing to sell off workers' rights, stipulating 
a paltry wage for the work performed by platform members. However, the 
advantage achieved with the bogus contract was not enough for the 
company, which repeatedly paid wages that, in some cases, were up to 
76.95% below the poverty line and up to 81.62% below the collective 
bargaining agreement-a sum that is certainly not proportionate to either 
the quality or quantity of work performed. It continued to treat the 
employed workers as professionals in a professional employment 
relationship and therefore VAT-registered.

The appetite grows with eating.
But as the saying goes, "the devil makes the pot, not the lid," and so 
it happened that the INPS, with the publicly stated goal of its acting 
President Tridico, eager to collect social security payments, opened a 
series of investigations into the company through labor inspectors. The 
company imposed 56 fines, totaling EUR65 million, and demanded payment. 
The company opposed the fines by challenging the social security 
institution's request, both regarding the amount and the merits.
The competent court by law is the judge of the court in whose 
jurisdiction the company is based, in this case the Milan court. The 
judges, hearing the case, issued a series of rulings, partly because as 
the dispute dragged on, Nidel CGIL, the union of atypical workers, 
joined the case to defend the riders' interests. A series of legal 
disputes followed, gradually dismantling the "self-employed rider" 
model, forcing Glovo to assimilate its employees to subordinate 
employment with the associated financial and safety protections, 
culminating in the 2026 investigation into gangmastering. Here is a 
summary of the steps:
- August 2023: Ruling on algorithm and anti-union behavior. A labor 
judge in Turin, in line with Milan's guidelines, found Glovo guilty of 
anti-union behavior, imposing transparency on the algorithm that manages 
riders' shifts and compensation.
- April 2025: Ruling on failure to pay contributions and false VAT 
number. The Milan Court rejects Glovo's appeal against a massive EUR65 
million fine (initially imposed by INPS), confirming, however, that 
riders must be considered employees and, therefore, the company, despite 
recalculating the amount, is required to pay social security contributions.
- July/August 2025 ruling on safety and "Hot Weather Bonus" In a ruling 
described as "historic" by the unions, the Milan Court forces Glovo to 
negotiate with union representatives (Nidel CGIL) on the risks 
associated with extreme weather conditions (heat), determining that the 
heat "bonuses" paid were insufficient and requiring greater 
reimbursements and protections. It also reaffirms Glovo's obligation to 
recognize the riders' health and safety representatives, as in employed 
workers. NIdiL and Filcams CGIL: recognizing the "structural" risk and 
the responsibilities of platform owners.
- February 2026 sees the start of an investigation into gangmastering 
(caporalato) involving companies that manage workers through platforms. 
The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office orders a judicial review of Glovo 
after an investigation into the alleged exploitation of 40,000 delivery 
drivers across Italy. The allegation is aggravated gangmastering, with 
wages deemed below the poverty line and the appointment of a judicial 
administrator to regularize working conditions.
It's no surprise that a government that completely fails to protect 
workers considers judges its enemies.
There's more than enough to defend the judiciary and vote no in the 
March referendum.

G.L.

https://www.ucadi.org/2026/03/01/i-nuovi-schiavi/
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