Migrant platform workers have collectively defended their rights and interests mainly through grassroots groups and independent trade unions also because it took some time for traditional trade unions to realise how disruptive the platform model was (Bagnardi and Murgia, forthcoming). Such non-union collective actors have shown the ability to take legal action, to approach already self-organised groups of migrant and local BAME workers, to build communities of workers as well as networks and alliances, not only based on working for digital labour platforms, and to innovate established trade union practices by supporting new forms of mutual support and solidarity (Borghi et al., 2021). Moreover, in the case of platform migrant workers, as well as for migrant workers more generally, co-ethnic networks, both online and offline, have also played a relevant role (Borghi & Murgia, 2024; Però & Downey, 2024; Wood et al., 2018). Indeed, gig economy workers have been able to take advantage of the networks developed in their local area, as well as digital communication channels, not only to connect with other workers, but also to build broader forms of solidarity, established in their everyday lives beyond work relationships. By activating their families, friends, and ethnic groups, migrant platform workers have managed to create a sense of mutual identification that is necessary for collective action. These communities have then been able to provide critical logistical and emotional support, enabling workers to organise protests, advocate for better working conditions, and challenge unfair labour practices (Atzeni & Cini, 2023).
Drawing on this flourishing literature, our study uses the case of the IWGB, an independent union based in London, to investigate the construction of forms of mobilisation as the result of processes of continuous negotiation with migrant and BAME workers. In doing so, we focus on the perspective of both workers and unionists supporting the protests and show how the observed strategies of organising were built both inside and outside the union.
7 ORGANISING MIGRANT PLATFORM WORKERS IN LONDON
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