{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","title":"Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy The Intersection of Migrant Labour, Platform Capitalism, and Resistance","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9783031912610","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","id":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","uuid":"ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","title":"Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy The Intersection of Migrant Labour, Platform Capitalism, and Resistance","normalized_title":"migrantlabourinthegigeconomytheintersectionofmigrantlabourplatformcapitalismandresistance","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9783031912610","isbns":["9783031912610","9783031912627"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":270,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/Migrant%20Labour%20in%20the%20Gig%20Economy%20The%20Intersection%20of%20Migrant%20Labour%2C%20Platform%20Capitalism%2C%20and%20Resistance","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/ce325a04-5bc9-4819-a776-439d90410b32/search"},"page":{"printed_page":70,"pdf_page":84,"physical_index":84,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"83dda00efbbfdac7476486db172596b22cc717d2b749382f84838350785d40b6"},"chapter":"Dynamics ofVirtual Work","content":"Suffice it to say that a search carried out on some of the names that emerged from the investigations revealed that a large proportion of the riders recruited by Flash Road City came from conflict areas of the planet (Mali, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea, Pakistan, Bangladesh and others). […] The strong social isolation in which these migrant workers live provides an opportunity to find work at very low cost, as these are people who are willing to do anything to have the money to survive, who are exploited and discriminated against by unscrupulous employers who feel they have no choice but to work in order not to see their migratory dream fail, and who are therefore willing not only to do the less qualified and harder jobs, but also to be paid little and badly (Court of Milan, 2020, p. 8 ).\n\nAs labour law expert Merlo (2020) points out, the prosecutor’s report highlights a working situation that is far from self-employment and can be fully associated with a framework of gangmastering for the purposes of exploitation. Finally, in addition to the crime of illicit intermediation and exploitation of labour (ex-art. 630-bis), the Court of Milan (2020) accused some managers of FRC and Uber of the crime of aggravated fraud, criminal association, crimes of extortion, usury, laundering and use of goods and money of illicit origin. A first part of the trial ended in February 2022 with the conviction of some managers and the obligation to pay compensation of around half a million euros to the UberEats riders who were civil parties. In conclusion, that of FRC and UberEats outlines a form of top-down gangmastering, with a parasitic interposition that operates within an institutional labour regime. In effect, this form of illegal labour intermediation exploits the immunity of gig economy companies that characterise the independent contractor employment regime of platform workers.\n\nPlatform Caporalato Among Uber Fleets and Other Informal Circuits ofIllicit Intermediation ofLabour\n\nIf the Milan trial against UberEats outlines a form of gangmastering that is embedded in the institutional mechanisms of the forms of employment and makes use of intermediary companies such as FRC, other forms of digital caporalato operate behind the scenes of official organisational mechanisms and take place in a bottom-up form. One of the most revealing examples of this second level of illicit labour intermediation comes from the case of Uber drivers, observed during the fieldwork in Buenos Aires in 2020, which takes place through the app extension of UberFleet. Before explaining in detail how this informal and bottomup form of caporalato works, it is necessary to make a brief reference to the situation of the Californian company in the Argentine capital. Since its arrival in 2016, Uber has been operating in the city in a grey zone beyond the limits of legality, according to the capital’s authorities, as it violates the local transport legislation (however, in other urban areas, such as Mendoza, it operates legally thanks to agreements that have since been immediately signed with local federal institutions) (Del Nido, 2021). This means that drivers are exposed to further risks and vulnerabilities, since they can be fined if caught by the police to transport passengers on behalf of Uber. Nevertheless, the ride-hailing service has continued to grow over time and become a logistical infrastructure for local transport, despite institutional attempts to block the company and persistent protests from taxi drivers. On the other hand, Uber drivers have been able to continue working without paying commissions to the company (as there was initially no way for drivers to pay money to Uber), until the company introduced payment mechanisms (via prepaid cards) to try to collect at least part of the debts accumulated by drivers over the years. For this reason, the ‘minimum payment’ has been introduced to make drivers gradually pay part of their debt and avoid a mass flight to the competition (such as Didi, Cabify and Beat). Basically, starting in 2019, Uber asks drivers to pay a portion of their debt each month to keep their account active. In addition, a massive informal market for fake accounts has emerged, given the high number of Uber driver accounts that have been suspended or permanently blocked for non-payment of debts.\n\n70\n\nG. PETERLONGO","previous_page":69,"next_page":71}