There is striking similarity across many of the concerns surrounding organised labour processes that correlate not only with public sector strikes, but particularly within the gig economy as I reflect upon stories from companies such as Amazon, SportsDirect, and as Woodcock (2021) highlights in Chapter 1, Deliveroo. In the first two examples mentioned, I recall various news releases as issues surrounding health and safety, and more general exploitation of workers emerged, with a notable Guardian article comparing the sports clothing company to the ‘gulag’ (Goodley and Ashby, 2015). Within the article the simplicity of its manual force is compared against Amazon, whose technology demonstrates greater sophistication. The voice of Amazon’s workforce is arguably a more public example of attempts to address employee unrest, with analyst roles provided to rack reports of unionisation and threats to jobs. While Amazon’s fulfilment centres do utilise technologies such as robotics, similar concerns surrounding employee welfare mirror those within SportsDirect, as conditions are unethical and demand the impossible. In an era where technology is driving every minute of our lives, it is inconceivable that workers should exist within the juxtaposition of contemporary capitalism, whereby we see the benefits of ‘extraordinary high-technologies’ yet ignore ‘workers who live and die in brutal conditions often imagined to belong in some antediluvian past’ (Dyer-Witheford, 2015, p.2). Companies with technologies so sophisticated as Amazon, who pilot drone deliveries and boast billion dollar profits demonstrate that while workers are not as isolated as previously considered (Woodcock, 2021), threats of redundancy and automation, amongst others, have significant impacts. Yet, resistance is crucial. Therefore, while technological surveillance and the consequence of technology can further hinder organisational resistance, it may also be a gateway to facilitate communication and action from workers to affect social change.
Goodley, S. and Ashby, J. (2015) “A day at ‘the gulag’: what it’s like to work at Sports Direct’s warehouse,” The Guardian, 9 December. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/09/sports-direct-warehouse-work-conditions (Accessed: March 20, 2023).
Woodcock, J (2021) “Introduction” and “Why struggles against platform capitalism matter” The Fight Against Platform Capitalism. London: University of Westminster Press
Streitfield, D. (2021) “How Amazon Crushes Unions,” The New York Times, 16 March. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/technology/amazon-unions-virginia.html.