Gigs of their own: reinventing worker cooperativism in the platform economy and its implications for collective action

Abstract

The recent rise of gig platforms brings together longer trends of work flexibilisation, digital technology and changing consumer preferences to act as intermediaries between local on-demand via app workers or remote crowdworkers and their respective customers (De Stefano 2015;Woodcock and Graham 2020). On the one hand, gig platforms may generate flexible job opportunities and new ways to make a living (Martin 2016). Their low entry barrier, and for crowdwork access to global labour markets, makes them particularly attractive to disadvantaged groups that lack access to standard employment ). On the other hand, gig platforms have become associated with algorithmic surveillance, poorer working conditions that come with on-demand work (that is, employment uncertainty, irregular earnings and unstable working hours), and fewer social rights and voice for workers (Scholz 2017). According to this perspective, many platforms exploit disadvantaged groups by expanding informalized precarious work (Van Doorn 2017;Webster 2016).In an effort to uphold the benefits and mitigate the risks of gig platforms, discussions about the future of work are on the rise. This chapter builds on insights from sociology and social history to examine how gig workers themselves might strive for more decent work. 1 Since labour market flexibi-1 'Decent work' is a concept introduced by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1999, later also adopted in the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations in 2015, which emphasizes the creation of jobs of acceptable quality (Ghai 2003).

Workers organizing in the platform economy: Local forms and global trends of collective action

“…Due to the distinguishing features of the labor process in ride‐hailing and food delivery, “gig workers' collective action […] is a phenomenon that should theoretically be unlikely to occur but is still observed in practice” (Bunders, 2021, p. 203).…”

“…Worker‐led co‐ops have also surged in Western Europe, allowing some workers to exit exploitative platforms (Bunders, 2021; Como et al., 2016; Cousin & Martelloni, 2017; Martinelli et al., 2019). CoopCycle, which was created after a strike against Deliveroo and in parallel to the social movement Nuit debout in Paris in 2016, federates dozens of couriers' cooperatives, mainly across Europe.…”

“…The platform economy has been widely considered a field where collective action “seems unlikely in theory, [but] does occur in practice” (Bunders, 2021, p. 189). Despite some adverse characteristics of the labor force—heterogeneity, vulnerability and atomization—and of organizational traits of the platforms—algorithmic management and employment status—workers express their voice and agency (Della Porta et al., 2022; Lebas, 2019; Vandaele, 2018, 2022).…”