The collective organization beats the algorithm (?) Delivery platforms and the organization of delivery workers in Argentina

Authors

  • Julieta Haidar CITRA; UMET; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
  • Nicolás Diana Menéndez CITRA; UMET; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales; Universidad Nacional San Martín
  • Cora Cecilia Arias CITRA; UMET; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Keywords:

Algorithmic management, Platform, Trade unions, Power resources.

Abstract

We discuss how algorithmic management and work organization on platforms create conditions that enable or obstruct the collective organization of workers, and how these workers use these same characteristics to develop collective strategies of resistance. This is a qualitative approach, based on in-depth interviews with activists and delivery people from the three main delivery companies in Buenos Aires City. In the conclusions we show that the characteristics of algorithmic management generated feelings of dissatisfaction among the riders who, encouraged by the activists, helped to develop associative power resources, articulated with the bargaining power in the workplace and the discursive power to resist business operating practices.

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Published

2020-12-28

How to Cite

Haidar, J., Diana Menéndez, N., & Arias, C. C. (2020). The collective organization beats the algorithm (?) Delivery platforms and the organization of delivery workers in Argentina. Revista Pilquen. Sección Ciencias Sociales, 23(4), 15–28. Retrieved from https://revele.uncoma.edu.ar/index.php/Sociales/article/view/2984