The newly developed Leeds Index of Platform Labour Protest provides an overview of the developments in platform worker organisation and mobilisation on a global scale. Its findings so far reveal that:

  • The main cause globally for labour protest is pay, with considerable geographical variation when it comes to other causes for dispute.
  • Types of platform labour protest appear to vary more substantially between regions than between industries.
  • Mainstream unions play a vital role in defending platform workers’ interests, especially in western Europe, while in the global South, protests are much more likely to be led by grassroots unions.
  • Mainstream unions rely more frequently on legal challenges, while unofficial unions rely more frequently on strike actions.

Simon Joyce is a research fellow at the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre, Denis Neumann is a researcher at the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), and Vera Trappmann and Charles Umney are both associate professors in employment relations, all at Leeds University Business School.

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