Solidarity Station
Design for
Protest, Social change, Strike
Year
2020-2021
Building on the social study of the gig economy, platform labor, identification, collective
action, and unionization, this article explores to improve on-demand food couriers’ welfare.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with 7 couriers as well as the shadowing of a courier’s one
working day, the article illustrates the fact that how platforms commence the support for
couriers’ bodily safety and discuss the contested and contentious application of algorithmic
management, which leads to the elimination of the first two initiatives. Drawing from a more
comprehensive understanding of the whole picture of the issue, the final objective is iterated
from building social connections for food couriers to addressing the issue of inefficient and
unsuccessful protests organized by couriers. And the outcome named Solidarity Station can
be seen as a campaign composed of a supportive kit and a dissemination station aiming to
promote the protests (strikes) movement, which helps the couriers to achieve their demand
of better pay and working conditions.
Insight
Do you think this project can be scaled up?
Promoting a protest of food couriers in one city is not enough to effectively alter the situation of the whole food courier community. Combining the program with some public entities such as post office and bus station that most people will visit can be an ideal initiative, which will make the project more pragmatic and practical. On a larger scale, there are differences between the management of different delivery platforms, based on local culture, policy, and geographies (Ivanova et. al 2018). Details may vary across countries even cities if the Solidary Station wants to be duplicated outside of Edinburgh. Therefore, the program needs to be localized through working together with the local authorities or unions.
