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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Link: (en) Italy, UCADI, #205 - The New Slaves (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source : A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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