Self-Organization Among Delivery Platforms Workers in Neoliberal Latin American Countries. The Cases of Peru and Chile

What is it about?

Work on digital platforms has been at the center of labor conflicts at the international level. While research has shown similarities in the self-organization processes of platform delivery workers, less attention has been paid to the possibilities of consolidation of strong organizations of delivery workers after conflicts. This study characterizes the process of self-organization of platform delivery workers in Chile and Peru, showing similarities that confirm that solidarity emerges from the work process that involves free meeting spaces and in which delivery workers require peer support to learn how to deal with the apps (the virtual environments that organize their work). In addition, both cases show the importance of the political and socio-institutional context in providing networks and resources to enable the consolidation of organizations after selective layoffs, which are the main counter-response of companies to protests. In particular, the labor institutional framework that defines minimal but global protections for workers and the existence of union actors with certain organizational power with whom to establish alliances appears as a key element to favor the consolidation of organizations. These results show that labor institutions can act as a resource to be used to defend labor rights in this sector, while alliances with other actors are a tool to subvert the scarce power resources available to this group.

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