Platform work

de Miguel, Pablo Sanz, Juan Arasanz, António B. Moniz, and Nuno Boavida. "Revitalización sindical y nuevo sindicalismo en el capitalismo de plataformas: una comparación de los casos de España y Portugal en el sector del reparto digital." Empiria. Revista de metodología de ciencias sociales (2023): 53-79. AbstractWebsite

The emergence of the platform economy is the most recent model of outsourcing practices and the flexibilization of the organisation of production supported by the development of information and communication technologies. The spread of this business model has led to the expansion of different precarious forms of employment, the most common being the bogus self-employed. The business model based on digital platforms also has the effect of limiting the capacity of trade unions to represent and defend workers, preventing or limiting, for example, resource to collective bargaining. This article compares the trade union revitalisation strategies deployed in Spain and Portugal in the rider sector by traditional trade unions and associations of delivery workers and precarious workers. The article shows how, in both countries, unions have combined organising and mobilisation strategies with actions aimed at influencing political and regulatory expectations. However, there is evidence of a greater experimentation of practices in the Spanish case, as well as a greater impact and influence of their strategies in political terms. The article also reveals important differences between the two countries regarding the relationship between traditional trade unions and delivery workers' associations.

Moniz, António B., Nuno Boavida, Csaba Makó, Bettina Krings, and Pablo Sanz de Miguel. "Introduction." In Digital labours platforms: Representing workers in Europe, edited by A. B. Moniz and et al, 1-6. Famalicão: Humus/CICS.NOVA, 2023.
Boavida, Nuno, Isabel Roque, and António B. Moniz. "Collective Voice and Organizing in Digital Labour Platforms in Portugal." Journal of Labor and Society (2023): 1-25.Website
Moniz, António B., Nuno Boavida, Csaba Makó, Bettina-Johanna Krings, and Pablo Sanz de Miguel. "Conclusion: Where is worker representation going? Diverse pathways for platform workers' collective strategies." In Digital labour platforms: Representing workers in Europe , edited by A. B. Moniz and et al, 231-244. Famalicão: Humus/CICS.NOVA, 2023.
Moniz, António B., and Nuno Boavida. "Contextualising digital platform work in Portugal." In Digital labours platforms: Representing workers in Europe, edited by A. B. Moniz and et al, 29-34. Famalicão: Humus/CICS.NOVA, 2023.
Moniz, António B., Nuno Boavida, Bettina-Johanna Krings, Pablo Sanz de Miguel, and Csaba Makó. Digital labour platforms: Representing workers in Europe. Lisboa: Humus/CICS.NOVA, 2023. AbstractWebsite

"This book reflects the diversity of platform workers and their strategies to improve their work and organize collectively. It offers an insight on the cultural and institutional frameworks of the gig economy and the varieties of platform work in different sectors, locals, skills and complexity level. At the same time, it provides a range of policy options to ensure labour rights and social protections for these workers. Although a common European policy is still missing, critical debates have been raised to foster socially acceptable platform work. It presents new pathways for exploiting the potential positive effects of platform economy and platform-based work." (from the Introduction)

“It is therefore not surprising that new initiatives are arising both among traditional trade unions and in new types of organisation and, in the process, innovative new demands are being raised and placed on the negotiating agenda. These are documented in this timely publication, which adds indispensably to our knowledge about labour responses to platformisation in Europe.” (from the Preface by Ursula Huws)

CrowdWork21

CrowdWork21: Finding new strategies to organise in Europe

DG Emp
European Commission (Brussels, Brussels
Boavida, Nuno, António Moniz, Juan Aransanz, Pablo Sanz de Miguel, Maria Caprile, Julia Frias, Linda Nierling, Bettina-Johanna Krings, Leon Küstermann, Csaba Makó, Miklós Illéssy, and Katalin Bácsi. Work in digital platforms: Literature review from Germany, Hungary, Portugal and Spain. Lisbon: CICS.NOVA, 2019. Abstract

This 1st Report of the project CrowdWork21 presents a summary of the information collected about workers in digital platforms by country (German, Hungary, Portugal and Spain). Each national report describes first the scientific debates about workers of digital platforms. After, the reports present the information collected about the national public debates and identifies the angles normally covered by the media in relation to the organisation of digital workers. Lastly, the reports present initial conclusions about the information collected in each country.