The future of social dialogue in the platform economy: The case of Slovenia
The project addresses two problems related to the work in the platform economy: the first concerns the weakened bargaining power of workers under algorithmic management; the second the issue of decent work in the face of the precarisation of platform workers and the erosion of workers’ rights. From the perspective of the workers and their collective organising, platform work poses important challenges for tripartite and bipartite social dialogue. The challenges are also urgent from the perspective of employers and the legislator in a small country on the margin of the global platform economy.
In partnership with the Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia, the project examines how platform management practices, workers’ strategies and aspirations, and state regulations intersect in setting the wages and working conditions, in ensuring control over the labour process, and in limiting/undermining the bargaining position of platform workers. The project examines what these trends could mean for the future of the tripartite system in Slovenia and similar countries.
The expected impacts of the project are to promote decent work and sustainable economic growth, higher levels of productivity and technological innovation. The project is expected to contribute to the reduction and prevention of precarisation of platform workers by identifying potentially problematic management practices and analysing inequalities of workers by gender, class, age, nationality and employment status. The project will also contribute to disseminating the benefits of platform work by identifying the conditions under which platform work has positive effects, by identifying the benefits from the workers’ perspective, by identifying the skills needed, and by influencing the regulatory framework and potentially the platform managers themselves.
Project leader: izr. prof. dr. Maja Turnšek
Partners:
- University of Maribor, Faculty of Tourism
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences
- Trade Union Mladi plus, The Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (associated partner)
Funders:
