Organising a Platform Delivery Workforce in Germany

A Story from the Front Line

Bibliographic Data

ID23310037
AuthorsHarvey Harvey (Rider University, corresponding author), Ercüment Çelik (0009-0004-1124-2926, DJO Global (Germany))
Year2026
Publication date2026-07-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/09500170261446220
OpenAlexW7171780481
LanguageEN
References cited12

This article tells the story of a worker-led initiative to form a Works Council at a Q-commerce platform in Germany. From the viewpoint of a rider involved, the article first describes the widespread dissatisfaction of workers with management, which created the need for organising. The article then narrates the difficulties in ‘recruiting’ engaged colleagues to the Works Council initiative among a transient workforce, the eventual success of the ‘workers’ assembly’ and, finally, the shock of the ‘Hub’s’ entire workforce being fired in an act of platform capitalist ‘union busting’. Irrespective of its sad end, this On the Front Line account of workplace organising in Germany’s platform sector may offer insights and inspiration for those trying to build and strengthen the collective struggles of diverse and precarious platform workers elsewhere.

Front (military) · Front line · Neoliberalism (international relations) · Shock (circulatory) · Workforce · Workforce development · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Emotional Labor in Professions · Labor Movements and Unions

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Open DOIOpen Access