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A global analysis of worker protest in digital labour platforms

Author

Listed:
  • Bessa, Ioulia,
  • Joyce, Simon,
  • Neumann, Denis,
  • Stuart, Mark,
  • Trappmann, Vera,
  • Umney, Charles,

Abstract

This paper presents findings from the Leeds Index of Platform Labour Protest, a database of platform worker protest events around the world which gathers data from online news media reports and other online sources. For the period January 2017 to July 2020, we identified 1,271 instances of worker protest in four platform sectors: ride-hailing, food delivery, courier services and grocery delivery. Our results show that the single most important cause of platform worker protest is pay, with other protested issues including employment status, and health and safety. In most global regions, strikes, log-offs and demonstrations predominated as a form of protest. Furthermore, platform worker protests showed a strong tendency to be driven from below by worker self- organization, although trade unions also had an important presence in some parts of the world. From the four platform sectors examined, ride-hailing and food delivery accounted for most protest events. Although the growth of platform worker organization is remarkable, formal collective bargaining is uncommon, as is formal employment, with ad hoc self-organized groups of workers dominating labour protest across the different sectors, particularly in the global South.

Suggested Citation

  • Bessa, Ioulia, & Joyce, Simon, & Neumann, Denis, & Stuart, Mark, & Trappmann, Vera, & Umney, Charles,, 2022. "A global analysis of worker protest in digital labour platforms," ILO Working Papers 995192093002676, International Labour Organization.
    • Handle: RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995192093002676
    DOI: 10.54394/CTNG4947
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Soriano, Cheryll Ruth, 2024. "Interactions of Filipino platform workers with AI systems: implications for design and governance of labour platforms," MediArXiv adeyt, Center for Open Science.
    2. Joanna OCTAVIA, 2022. "Networks of trust: Accessing informal work online in Indonesia during the COVID‐19 pandemic," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 161(3), pages 487-508, September.
    3. Mohammad Sajjad Hussain, 2023. "Learning to Strike in the Gig Economy: Mobilization Efforts by Food Delivery Workers in Hyderabad, India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 18(3), pages 431-456, December.
    4. Gorwa, Robert, 2024. "The Politics of Platform Regulation: How Governments Shape Online Content Moderation," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 299876.
    5. Meri Koivusalo & Arseniy Svynarenko & Benta Mbare & Mikko Perkiö, 2024. "Disruptive (dis)engagement: platformisation as a global social policy," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Charles Umney & Mark Stuart & Ioulia Bessa & Simon Joyce & Denis Neumann & Vera Trappmann, 2024. "Platform Labour Unrest in a Global Perspective: How, Where and Why Do Platform Workers Protest?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 3-26, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    digital labour platforms; platform workers; working conditions; conflict;
    All these keywords.

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