This article investigates why gig economy workers who see themselves as self-employed freelancers also engage in collective action traditionally associated with regular employment. Using ethnographic evidence from remote gig economy workers in North America, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, we argue that labour platforms reduce the risk of false self-employment in terms of the worker-client relationship. However, in doing so, they create new forms of worker dependency on the platforms themselves. We term this relationship ‘platform labour’, and demonstrate that it entails a ‘structured antagonism’ which manifests as perceived conflicts over platform fees, pay rates, and lack of worker voice. This creates desires for representation, greater voice and even unionisation towards the platform, while retaining entrepreneurial attitudes towards clients. By refocusing industrial relations on structured antagonism instead of the employment relationship we can understand conflict, protest and organising in new and diverse forms of work.
{"title":"Platform Labour and Structured Antagonism: Understanding the Origins of Protest in the Gig Economy","authors":"A. Wood, V. Lehdonvirta","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3357804","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3357804","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates why gig economy workers who see themselves as self-employed freelancers also engage in collective action traditionally associated with regular employment. Using ethnographic evidence from remote gig economy workers in North America, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, we argue that labour platforms reduce the risk of false self-employment in terms of the worker-client relationship. However, in doing so, they create new forms of worker dependency on the platforms themselves. We term this relationship ‘platform labour’, and demonstrate that it entails a ‘structured antagonism’ which manifests as perceived conflicts over platform fees, pay rates, and lack of worker voice. This creates desires for representation, greater voice and even unionisation towards the platform, while retaining entrepreneurial attitudes towards clients. By refocusing industrial relations on structured antagonism instead of the employment relationship we can understand conflict, protest and organising in new and diverse forms of work.","PeriodicalId":439408,"journal":{"name":"UNSW: Industrial Relations Research Centre (Topic)","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131043941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Originally prepared as a commissioned advocacy paper for the Transport and Logistics Council, this report uses publicly available data to analyse current workforce capability and development needs in the Transport, Postal and Warehousing industry division. The industry recorded above-average growth in both GVA and labour productivity over much of the last decade, despite being one of the worst performers in terms of formal training effort, workforce qualifications, on-the-job learning and perceived demands on the existing skills base of its workforce. However, it was one of the industries most severely affected by the GFC, and while most output indicators had returned to previous trend levels by the end of 2009, hours worked remained in decline. This suggests that current productivity levels are mainly the result of work intensification, and as such are unlikely to be sustained unless serious attention is paid to increasing the capacity of the workforce. Current challenges include an ageing workforce, loss of skilled labour to growth industries such as mining, strong predicted rises in labour demand, and a level of formal training which appears inadequate to meet the growing needs for accreditation.
{"title":"Workforce Development Needs in the Australian Transport Industry: An Overview of the Evidence","authors":"D. Fraser","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1794624","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1794624","url":null,"abstract":"Originally prepared as a commissioned advocacy paper for the Transport and Logistics Council, this report uses publicly available data to analyse current workforce capability and development needs in the Transport, Postal and Warehousing industry division. The industry recorded above-average growth in both GVA and labour productivity over much of the last decade, despite being one of the worst performers in terms of formal training effort, workforce qualifications, on-the-job learning and perceived demands on the existing skills base of its workforce. However, it was one of the industries most severely affected by the GFC, and while most output indicators had returned to previous trend levels by the end of 2009, hours worked remained in decline. This suggests that current productivity levels are mainly the result of work intensification, and as such are unlikely to be sustained unless serious attention is paid to increasing the capacity of the workforce. Current challenges include an ageing workforce, loss of skilled labour to growth industries such as mining, strong predicted rises in labour demand, and a level of formal training which appears inadequate to meet the growing needs for accreditation.","PeriodicalId":439408,"journal":{"name":"UNSW: Industrial Relations Research Centre (Topic)","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127395251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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