Hungarian Trade Unions, Platform Workers and Workplace Democracy: New Challenges for Post-Socialist Labour Movements

This study explores the prospects and limitations of workplace democracy within the rapidly evolving context of platform work in Hungary. Defined as an institutionalised channel for expressing workers’ interests and participating in decision-making, workplace democracy traditionally relies on clear employer-employee relationships, collective bargaining and physical workspaces. However, platform work—characterised by algorithmic management, non-standard employment, and worker isolation—poses structural challenges to these democratic mechanisms. Through qualitative methods, including document analysis and interviews with Hungarian trade union leaders, the research reveals that trade unions largely remain disengaged from the platform economy. Most unions still operate within the conceptual boundaries of standard employment, struggling to adapt their organising and advocacy strategies to the fragmented, digitally mediated realities of gig work. Platform workers are rarely unionised, and unions lack the digital infrastructure and resources to reach this dispersed, often invisible workforce. Nonetheless, the study identifies forms of bottom-up resistance, particularly among food couriers, who tactically subvert algorithmic control through informal strategies. These practices, though individual in execution, foster shared knowledge and hint at the potential for emergent collective voice—an informal reimagining of workplace democracy. Moreover, the newly adopted EU Platform Work Directive (2024/2831) introduces legal instruments such as the presumption of employment and algorithmic transparency, offering new opportunities for formalising democratic representation. Yet the Directive's impact will depend on national-level implementation, union engagement, and the capacity to bridge legal frameworks with grassroots initiatives. In Hungary's post-socialist context—marked by weak social dialogue institutions and low union density—reinvigorating workplace democracy in the platform economy requires not only regulatory reform but also a reconfiguration of organising models and solidarity practices.