Missing Voice?: Worker Voice and Social Dialogue in the Platform Economy(The Future of Work and Employment series)

About the Book

This timely book addresses the key debates and challenges surrounding the future of work, covering the macro, meso and micro levels of gig work. It provides a consideration of the ways in which technology is shaping the lives of those working in the gig and digital platform economy within the 21st century.

Written by leading experts in their respective fields, chapters cover a range of global issues concerning not only technology but the social relationships of gig work, management by algorithm, and how to regulate individual and collective voice in the remote gig economy. Utilising leading research and case studies from companies such as Uber and Deliveroo, the book considers what governments and the law can do to shape a better future for the worker voices and employment conditions of atypical and non-standard workers which, in turn, can help to better impact society.

Missing Voice? will be a key resource for scholars and students researching employment conditions, worker and human rights, employment, and labour relations in the fields of business and human resource management, industrial relations and sociology. It will also be of interest to policy-makers, trade unions and think tanks who are interested in labour market changes and issues of worker voice and management practice in the gig economy more broadly.

Table of Contents:
Contents: PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Missing voices?: Integrating worker voice and social dialogue in the platform economy 2 Adrian Wilkinson, Tony Dundon, Paula K. Mowbray and Sarah Brooks PART II MACRO CONSIDERATIONS 2 The legal framework of worker voice in the platform economy 20 Alan Bogg 3 Giving platform workers a say: regulating for voice in the gig economy 48 Andrew Stewart and Jim Stanford 4 How do workers gain voice on digital work platforms? Hotspots and blind spots in research on platform worker voice 71 Laura Thäter, Thomas Gegenhuber, Elke Schü.ler and Markus Ellmer PART III MESO FORCES 5 How anger sparks voice: exploring individual and collective voice in the remote gig economy 109 Alex J. Wood, Nick Martindale and Vili Lehdonvirta 6 Work, spatial changes and ‘arm’s-length bargaining’ in the platform economy 130 Miguel Martínez Lucio, Debra Howcroft, Holly Smith, Stephen Mustchin and Stefania Marino 7 Voice in platform-enabled gig work 153 Anne Keegan and Jeroen Meijerink PART IV MICRO EXPERIENCES 8 Is anybody there? An examination of the voice experiences of Uber ride-share drivers 175 Paula K. Mowbray PART V INTEGRATING WORKER VOICE IN THE GIG ECONOMY 9 When voices from below are heard: the case of a Swiss online food-delivery platform 195 Nicola Cianferoni, Luca Perrig and Jean-Michel Bonvin Index

About the Author :
Edited by Adrian Wilkinson, Distinguished Professor of Human Resource Management, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia, Tony Dundon, Professor of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management, University of Limerick, Ireland and the Work and Equalities Institute, University of Manchester, UK, Paula K.Mowbray, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Griffith University, Australia and Sarah Brooks, Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, UK

Review :
‘Missing Voice? provides a fresh insight on the present and future of worker voice in precarious gig-based work. While past research has dissected the reasons for poor working conditions in the platform economy, this book presents models for improving those conditions. Findings suggest that worker mobilization is central to strengthening voice; but it is most likely to lead to more worker-centered and democratic management policies where collective action is accompanied by real institutional change, through new laws and union agreements.’ ‘Workers around the world are struggling to gain a voice in platform work and they are doing so in varied ways. This marvelous collection of essays provides a comprehensive examination and documentation of efforts workers are making to gain a say in how they work, how they are rewarded, and how they engage the algorithms that manage them, much less the human beings behind the algorithms. It deepens our understanding of this form of work and offers numerous possibilities for improving it for the workforce, customers, and indeed the owners and managers of the platforms. Bravo.’ ‘This is an important scholarly work in our evolving recognition and understanding of the broader HR ecosystem. Worker voice in a platform economy is a critical differentiator from the past, and the editors and contributing authors represent a cross-section of thought leaders in this field. The fact that they approach this volume from a macro, meso, and micro perspective is especially valuable, because we gain not only distinct insights from each paradigm, but also gain a greater potential synthesis of critical perspectives that inform our research.’