Two Steps Forward, One Step App? Worker Status and Access to Fundamental Trade Union Rights in the United Kingdom

The recent decision of the UK Supreme Court in Independent Workers Union v Central Arbitration Committee marks a retrogressive step in the protection of fundamental employment rights in the UK. In that case, the Court found that Deliveroo Riders were neither “workers” for the purpose of domestic employment law, nor were they in an “employment relationship” for the purposes of accessing trade union rights within the context of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The consequence of this decision is to further exclude vulnerable gig economy workers—who are already engaged in precarious app or platform based work—from the basic or core protections offered not only by domestic legislation, but also by international fundamental (social) rights. This article argues that, in so doing, the Supreme Court failed adequately to engage with the underlying protective purpose of the statutory regime as already recognised in its pre-existing case law, while also underestimating the normative value of the right to bargain collectively, as well as individual labour rights, as fundamental social rights.