The collectivization and the enforcement of better working conditions of workers in the gig economy A case study on Gorillas employees.

This research provides an understanding of the collectivization and the enforcement of better working conditions for workers in the gig economy through a case study of Gorillas employees. To fully unpack this research question, three other questions have been answered: who are these Gorillas' employees and what is their motivation? What are the experiences of Gorillas employees? And how do Gorillas collectivize? This has been researched through a triangulation of methods. A qualitative content analysis has been executed on both primary and secondary data, consisting of tweets from the Twitter account @GorillasWorkers and through the analysis of public articles. In addition, six in-depth interviews have been conducted with three different types of Gorillas workers: (1), Gorillas employees who are part of Gorillas Workers Collective, (2) Gorillas workers who are not part of Gorillas Workers Collective and (3), board members of Gorillas Workers Collective and the Gorillas Workers Council. All data has been analyzed and coded and has been turned into compelling arguments. Interesting is the difference in motivation and job satisfaction between national and migrant gig workers. For all the national workers, gig work has proven to be their free choice resulting in higher job satisfaction and less knowledge about collectivization. Their main motivation to work in the gig economy is the flexibility of the work. Many migrants who work in the gig economy experience their gig work as a way of survival. With the discrimination in the job market, they experience the gig market as one of their few job possibilities. Even though their job satisfaction is low and experience racism and exploitation, they do not dare to resign as the risk of not being able to find a new job is too high. As many of the migrants experience low job satisfaction, they collectivize on digital platforms, for example, on @GorillasWorkers. Through these platforms, gig workers try to enforce better working conditions through four different tactics: the announcement and organization of offline strikes, the creation of collective action by asking for support and solidarity, damaging the brand by creating ‘online “shitstorms” and by using legal action to create a workers union. The establishment of a legal workers union is the ultimate goal for gig workers as it provides them with legal power and finally gives the workers a voice within the company.