ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore a case of the platform economy in Sweden – Foodora – where, following workers’ mobilisation, the Transport Workers’ Union signed a collective agreement with the company to improve working conditions and pay. We ask: How do the workers in Foodora, in this context, experience their working conditions? Does this form of platform work contribute to a polarisation trend, and can this trend be countered by workers? Drawing on interviews and qualitative examination of empirical material, our analysis shows that bicycle couriers’ poor working conditions in Foodora deviate from the prevalent standards in the Swedish labour market, which manifests a lower position for them in a polarised labour market. The couriers’ insecure employment, low income and lack of rights and protection, including exposure to hazardous conditions and lack of union protection, are typical of precarious work. Regulatory improvements and increased collective power resulting from the courier’s mobilisation and the collective agreement may open the path to better working conditions in the long run. However, these organising outcomes appear limited and challenged by retaliative and circumventing strategies used by the company in the context of a highly competitive delivery sector that exhibits even poorer working conditions. Still, we may argue that a countermovement by workers and unions, underpinned by legal adjustments – such as those aimed for by the project of the European directive on platform work – might lift the standards in the platform economy, and is necessary if the goal is to prevent further polarisation of the labour market.
