RT journal article
T1 Unionizing Delivery Platform Workers. The Spatiality of Struggles over Regulation and Deregulation of Delivery Work in Spain
A1 López García, Irene María
A1 Ribón Seisdedos, María Antonia
A1 Morales Muñoz, Karen
A1 Roca Martínez, Beltrán
A2 Derecho del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social
A2 Economía General
K1 unions
K1 platform workers
K1 delivery platforms
K1 community unionism
K1 couriers
K1 platform capitalism
K1 industrial action
K1 spatiality of labour
AB This article is about recent changes in the union strategy of Spanish platform couriers. Using a socio-spatial approach to labour processes and disputes, we first describe the context of union organizing: how the business model of delivery platforms has evolved and how it is regulated in Spain. We then use qualitative interviews with union delegates, document analysis and participant observation to analyze the first initiatives to organize couriers in Spain by the network Couriers for Rights (Riders por Derechos). These initiatives can be classified under the heading of community unionism and have focused on specific spaces of union activism (state regulation and community support). Next, we explore how their newly won employee status has caused couriers to adopt more conventional forms of union organizing and, consequently, focus on other spaces of activism (mainly firms and workplaces). Finally, we discuss the main challenges of reconciling the different ways of unionizing couriers in a new context characterized by technology-driven deregulation and fragmentation of work, by growing demand for digital worker rights and by the existence of professional associations in which couriers defend themselves as independent contractors rather than as employees.
PB Érudit
SN 1703-8138, 0034-379X
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38908
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38908
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 06-nov-2026