The victory of e-food workers represents an emblematic case of effective resistance in the so-called Greek gig economy, as it effectively articulated trade union interventions and strategies with modern versions of consumer and digital activism. Nevertheless, the effects of that victory were short-lived and limited in scope. This is partly related to the deeply ingrained tradition of informality and frequent violations of labour law in the Greek labour market, as well as Greece’s compelled shift towards neoliberalism following the economic crisis (Tourtouri et al., 2020). All the above factors resulted in the gradual institutional decomposition of democratic institutions, such as the collective bargaining system (Tourtouri et al., 2020), which, in turn, affects migration policy.
Besides, migration policy should not be analysed in isolation from employment policies, labour conditions, and welfare institutions, as these elements are deeply interconnected (Anderson, 2010). Both traditional and emerging actors—employers, workers, trade unions, the state, employer organizations, and migrant communities—shape and are influenced by migration regulations and outcomes (Alberti & Cutter, 2022; MacKenzie & Martinez Lucio, 2019).
This multifaceted interplay highlights the complexity of migration policies and their effects on the labour market and migrant experiences. As such understanding the complexities of migration policy requires a comprehensive approach that considers how these various factors interact and influence one another. The influx of refugees and migrants after 2015 and the recent pandemic have further exposed this dark side of power imbalance in the Greek labour market (Theofanidis et al., 2019). In addition to this, there is a clear orientation towards more restrictive policies on migration in the form of an optimization of the existing migrant labour force into the domestic labour markets (Martín et al., 2015).
The above characteristics of the Greek context are important to consider when searching to acknowledge the characteristics and the position of migrant labour in the Greek gig economy. Migrants in Greece, like in other countries, often face less favourable employment conditions in the labour market (Floros & Jørgensen, 2020; Kapsalis, 2018; Kapsalis et al, 2020). The next part of the analysis will delve deeper into these issues, exploring the nuanced relationship between migration policies and broader socio-economic frameworks.
2 MIGRANT LABOUR IN THE GREEK GIG ECONOMY
29