The EESC is hosting a virtual exhibition of photographs by French photographer Frédéric Stucin, staging food deliverers as a distinctive feature of today's city life and a new form of employment that often eludes European health and safety provisions for workers.

The exhibition features a series of 20 images depicting riders making deliveries for Uber Eats, Deliveroo and other platforms of a similar type.

"Hurtling through the city day and night, on bikes and scooters, these riders remind me of those legendary riders delivering mail for the Pony Express in the US", says Frédéric Stucin.

The photos also show the tough conditions they work under - being out in all weather, having to wait outside restaurants, paying their own transport costs and fines, coping with inconsiderate platforms and difficult clients, accepting that they may be involved in an accident.

The platforms they work for speak about flexibility and the freedom to choose their working hours, but many of these workers are denied many basic labour rights. There has been some progress and some platforms now offer slightly better conditions, while the workers themselves are starting to set up some mutual support mechanisms.

"With these pictures, I wanted to pay tribute to brave people who deserve our respect," says Stucin.

The photos shine a light on the issues surrounding this growing legion of atypical workers, in parallel with an EESC opinion on social dialogue as a tool to promote health and safety at work, to be debated at the January plenary.

The exhibition, which is being organised in conjunction with the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, will run from 15 January to 15 February 2022. Discover it HERE. (ck)