With their own pedal power: the transforming work of bicycle couriers
Out on the streets it is hard to miss their delivery boxes and cargo bikes. The rapid rise of bicycle couriers shows that work in the Netherlands has changed enormously over the past ten years.
Most couriers are self-employed, so they appear to be their own bosses. However, couriers are the canary in the coal mine when it comes to developments in the workplace. New contract structures, illegality and (bogus) self-employment reveal the fragility of the profession. Simultaneously, cycling also offers the opportunity to escape the traditional 9-to-5 job and thus provides a certain degree of freedom. The profession has been at the forefront of societal discussions about flexible labor for years, and that debate concerns everyone – especially if you regularly order food yourself. The development of the Dutch gig economy, in which more people are working from job to job, extends far beyond our cycle paths.
During the knowledge session, former bicycle courier and Deliveroo prosecutor Sytze Ferwerda, undercover bicycle courier and journalist Jeroen van Bergeijk, FNV director Frank van Bennekom and former bicycle courier and author Bram Kalkman will discuss the opportunities and vulnerabilities of this profession.
This discussion will take place in the context of the completion of the research project Flexible labor in the Dutch polder (1950-2020).
Practical
Date 5 February 2026
Time 16:00
Language: Dutch
Location IISG, Cruquiusweg 31, Amsterdam
Entry Free admission. Please email event@iisg.nl if you would like to attend.
