“We are riders or drivers. We chose these jobs naively believing in the myth of entrepreneurial freedom. We thought we would be free to set our prices, choose our hours and determine our working conditions. But the reality is quite different. We spend our days waiting for an order or an errand, as if held hostage without knowing when an errand will be allowed. If we were to refuse one, the platform would always allocate us less.”

Today, a collective of platform workers from across Europe call on labour ministers to protect their rights and dignity ahead of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 12 and 13 June. At the Council, ministers will vote on the platform workers directive – legislation that could grant employment rights to up to 5.5 million workers in the EU.

Left MEP Leïla Chaibi (La France Insoumise) said: “EU leaders, which side are you on? The lobbies of Uber and company, or the workers? It is time to choose. It is your duty to listen to this call from workers across the EU to recognise their right through a simple presumption of employment as proposed by the European Parliament.”

Read their open letter to ministers.