Browsing by Author "Graham, Mark"

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    Fair work in South Africa’s gig economy: A journey of engaged scholarship
    (Elsevier, 2023) du Toit, Darcy; Van Belle, Jean-Paul; Howson, Kelle; Graham, Mark
    Because of its relatively well-developed, highly urbanised economy and high penetration of mobile internet access, the platform economy took off quickly in South Africa, with international players vying for market share and local platforms pursuing more innovative approaches. Digital labour platforms have offered new earning opportunities to many in the country, but concerns have been raised about the quality of jobs created, and whether they meet standards of decent work. South Africa was one of the pilot countries for the Fairwork Project. This article describes the specific conditions which supported the take-off of location-based digital labour platforms in South Africa, explains the methodology used for pursuing the Fair work research, discusses ratings outcomes based on the empirical research and summarizes the action research component of the project—with particular attention paid to outcomes for workers. We also list some of the lessons that were learnt and give a critical reflection on the project in the hope of assisting other researchers investigating the fourth industrial revolution, the gig economy, and decent work standards, especially in the Global South.
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    The fairwork foundation: Strategies for improving platform work
    (Elsevier, 2020) Graham, Mark; Woodcock, Jamie; du Toit, Darcy
    s paper introduces the Fairwork Foundation, a research initiative that is also developing an interventionaroundthequalityofworkondigitallabourplatforms.Lackingtheabilitytocollectivelybargain,manyplatformworkershavelittleabilitytonegotiatewagesorworkingconditionswiththeiremployers.Asaresultofthisnew,digitally-managed market for work, many workers have jobs characterised by long and irregular hours, lowincome, and high stress. Fairwork's field research across India and South Africa finds challenges for workersacross a range of issues which form the basis for a set of decent work principles on: pay, conditions, contracts,management,andrepresentation.Theresultsofthefieldresearcharebeingusedtorankandcompareplatformsagainst these principles as a means to encourage decent, and discourage ‘un-decent’ platform work.
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    International regulation of platform labor: A proposal for action
    (Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, 2021) Fredman, Sandra; du Toit, Darcy; Graham, Mark
    Platform-mediated work is a source of livelihood for millions of workers worldwide. However, because platforms typically classify workers as ‘independent contractors’, those workers are generally excluded from the scope of labor rights. This has a corrosive effect on working standards of platform workers, creating the need for an international regulatory framework to prevent a race to the bottom. To address this situation, the article proposes an outline for an International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention for the regulation of platform work going beyond the employee/independent contractor dichotomy. It identifies five core issues in the platform economy – low pay, poor working conditions, inaccessible and unreasonable contracts, unfair management, and a lack of representation – and demonstrates how existing ILO standards could be adapted to address these issues.
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    Thinking Out of the Box: Fair Work for Platform Workers
    (Routledge, 2020) Fredman, Sandra; Du Toit, Darcy; Graham, Mark; Howson, Kelle; Heeks, Richard; Van Belle, Jean-Pau; Mungai, Paul; Osiki, Abigail
    The burgeoning gig economy largely operates outside of existing labour standards, mainly because in most countries workers are classified as self-employed rather than as employees. Until now, much legal effort has been focused on bringing platform workers within the scope of labour law by proving that they fit the definition of employee or worker, which functions as the gateway to employment rights. This has yielded some positive outcomes, particularly in exposing sham self-employment. However, this approach is limited, not least because platforms are adept at reconfiguring their conditions of work to avoid the legal definition of employee, or at fragmenting their corporate structure to evade the jurisdiction of courts in the region where workers in fact find themselves. By contrast, not enough attention has been paid to how labour law standards, fashioned for the ‘employee’ paradigm, should be reshaped to meet the needs of platform workers regardless of their employment status.
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    Workers, platforms and the state: the struggle over digital labour platform regulation
    (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) du Toit, Darcy; Englert, Sai; Graham, Mark
    This chapter discusses the arguments made by digital labour platforms - and their supporters - in favour of self-regulation. Against their claims that platform self-regulation is a preferable alternative to state intervention, for the shared benefit of shareholders, workers, and consumers, this chapter argues that in practice platforms have mobilised existing laws when they found them useful, while leveraging their economic power and popularity to undermine others. This process has led to the weakening of labour regulations, the deterioration of pay and conditions for digital labour platform workers, and to the reshaping of state and national laws to the advantage of platforms. This chapter points to emerging alternatives in the form of regulatory initiatives from below, led by platform workers themselves, and amplified by a constellation of supporters.