WYBORCZA: FULL-THROTTLE LOBBYING BY DELIVERY PLATFORMS
In a recently published article, *Gazeta Wyborcza* describes a sudden surge in activity by delivery platforms aimed at burnishing their public image. These platforms are purchasing large-scale advertisements, publishing sponsored content backed by reports, and even organizing meetings with local business owners. Naturally, this is all a calculated attempt to manipulate public opinion. The goal is to soften the implementation of the Platform Work Directive—in other words, to maintain the status quo regarding the labor rights of those who work as couriers. We have written about this many times ourselves (e.g., here).
Below is a summary of the *Wyborcza* article:
In this narrative, corporations cast themselves almost as social organizations, claiming they are trying to rein in “overzealous” politicians out of concern for small business owners and couriers.
This turns reality on its head. Companies that possess vastly more bargaining power than an individual courier present themselves as defenders of that courier’s freedom. Global conglomerates pose as allies to small business owners in the fight against “market giants,” or hide behind the image of a grandmother traveling to visit her grandchild.
It becomes easy to lose sight of what the discussion surrounding platform work is actually about—and I would argue that it should be primarily about the workers themselves.
You can find the full text here: wyborcza.biz
Additionally, we recommend an interview with Katarzyna Duda in the weekly magazine *Polityka*:
“I Was a Courier: Behind the Scenes of Working with an Algorithm.” “No story can truly convey how physically demanding it is”
#zentrale_media_review
And furthermore:
THERE ARE 1 MONTH AND 5 DAYS LEFT TO IMPLEMENT THE DIRECTIVE ON PLATFORM WORK.