Care Platforms - impacts and challenges from a trade union perspective

The poor working conditions of workers in the platform-based ‘gig’ economy have received considerable media attention during the last years. Yielding to the pressure from gig workers, trade unions and civil society, the European Council adopted in March 2024 a directive to improve the working conditions for platform workers.

The debate around platform-based gig work usually revolves around particular offline services, such as food delivery and Uber driving, or around the invisible crowd of “clickworkers”, which complete fully digital micro-tasks on platforms. There are, however, other platform-mediated gig services which have received little to no media attention.

One growing sector in this field is the sector of platform-mediated care. Perhaps surprisingly, the number of caregivers on the platform Care.com alone exceeds the number of Uber drivers worldwide many times over. In 2018, there were 12.7 million carer profiles registered on Care.com, as compared to 3.9 million Uber drivers worldwide. At the same time, almost all EU countries report significant staff shortages in the care sector. This makes exploring the long-term care platform economy a pressing issue.

To understand the challenges that are emerging in relation to the increased appearance and use of platforms in the care sector, the FES Future of Work and EPSU conducted a study on care platforms and impacts and challenges from a trade union perspective.

This research outlines different approaches unions can take to address employment conditions in the care sector, including specific action in relation to platform work, to ensure workers have a voice. It discusses options for unions in recruiting and organising care workers as well as strategies at the political level. The report concludes with observations and issues for further discussion.

FES and EPSU launched the study on 24 June. During an online webinar, the authors of the study, Caroline Murphy (University of Limerick) and Ivana Pais (Università Cattolica, Milano), presented the key findings. Furthermore, Ursula Huws (Analytica Social & Economic Research) and Dana-Carmen Bachmann (European Commission) commented on the results from their different perspectives. 

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