Abstract
In August 2016, drivers delivering meals in London after being booked via the platforms ‘deliveroo’ and ‘UberEATS’ made headlines by challenging working practices in the gig-economy through collective in-dustrial action. Dissatisfaction resulted from extremely low levels of pay as well as a new payment cal-culation system being introduced without consultation. This indicates that the ‘gig-economy’ may not always constitute the smartest solution for those serving within it. However, it also highlights that collective industrial action is far from structurally impossible for workers in the ‘gig-economy’, even though management of labour relies on anonymous and automated micro-management through internet plat-forms and apps. Indeed, collective organisation may seem the smartest solution for upgrading the gig-economy for its workers. This article develops an original contribution to the interface of smart technology in the gig-economy, collective labour rights, and EU competition law. We identify that EU competition law as interpreted by the Court of Justice would hinder collective organisation of those serving the gig-economy and develop a comprehensive re interpretation which allows adaptation of EU competition law to smart employment markets.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 275-294 |
Journal | International Review of Law, Computers And Technology |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 2-3 |
Early online date | 10 Apr 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 02 Sep 2018 |
Event | 24th International Conference of Europeanists: Council of European Studies - Glasgow, United Kingdom Duration: 11 Jul 2017 → 14 Jul 2017 |
Keywords
- EU competition law
- Gig-economy
- collective bargaining
- collective labour rights
- self-employed workers
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Dagmar Schiek
- School of Law - Honorary Title
- The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice
Person: Honorary, Academic