GIG economy drivers and couriers took Uber to court in Amsterdam today over its algorithm-controlled Dynamic Pay scheme.

Members of the App Drivers and Couriers’ Union (ADCU) and their general secretary Cristina-Georgiana Ioanitescu were in the Dutch capital to support a challenge being filed at Amsterdam District Court.

The claim is brought by Stichting WIE International, the Dutch foundation of the Worker Info Exchange, a non-profit which fights to help workers retain control of data collected about them and to challenge algorithmic systems which see workers paid or treated unfairly.

The claim challenges Uber’s use of automated decision-making to determine driver pay and work allocation, arguing that it breaches EU data protection and transparency rules. Uber’s European data-processing operations are based in Amsterdam, giving the Dutch courts jurisdiction.

ADCU said that “Uber’s use of increasingly opaque algorithmic pay systems represents the latest development in a long-running struggle.”

“Five years ago, ADCU took Uber all the way to the Supreme Court and won a landmark judgment recognising the reality of drivers’ work and establishing their right to basic employment protections,” Ms Ioanitescu said.

“But governments, regulators and enforcement authorities have failed to make sure those rights are respected. Instead, Uber has continued to develop new ways of controlling drivers’ work and pay, with Dynamic Pay putting more and more power in the hands of opaque algorithms.”

She said the “mood music is changing,” following the International Labour Organisation’s adoption of the first global standards specifically addressing platform-economy work.

“The old model of treating millions of workers as somehow outside the protection of employment rights is no longer sustainable,” Ms Ioanitescu said.

Drivers can sign up to the claim at tinyurl.com/DynamicPayClaim.