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The effects of the pandemic on gig economy couriers in Argentina and Chile: Precarity, algorithmic control and mobilization

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  • Francisca GUTIÉRREZ CROCCO
  • Maurizio ATZENI

Abstract

This article analyses the effects of the pandemic on the work process at two digital delivery platforms operating in Argentina and Chile: Rappi and PedidosYa. Using semi‐structured interviews and an analysis of the press and websites, it looks at how the platforms have shifted the costs of the crisis to workers by leveraging the independent contractor status and tightening control. In response, the couriers have mounted various types of resistance, ranging from renting out or loaning accounts to organizing international strikes.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisca GUTIÉRREZ CROCCO & Maurizio ATZENI, 2022. "The effects of the pandemic on gig economy couriers in Argentina and Chile: Precarity, algorithmic control and mobilization," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 161(3), pages 441-461, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intlab:v:161:y:2022:i:3:p:441-461
    DOI: 10.1111/ilr.12376
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Kate Minter, 2017. "Negotiating labour standards in the gig economy: Airtasker and Unions New South Wales," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(3), pages 438-454, September.
    4. Hannah JOHNSTON, 2020. "Labour geographies of the platform economy: Understanding collective organizing strategies in the context of digitally mediated work," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(1), pages 25-45, March.
    5. Gerald Friedman, 2014. "Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 171-188, April.
    6. Andrés Fielbaum & Alejandro Tirachini, 2021. "The sharing economy and the job market: the case of ride-hailing drivers in Chile," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2235-2261, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ernest Cañada & Carla Izcara & María José Zapata Campos, 2023. "Putting Fairness into the Gig Economy: Delivery Cooperatives as Alternatives to Corporate Platforms," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, March.

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