‘What damage could a small breeze do to a fence?’ The lack of collective action on ride-hailing platforms in Berlin and Tallinn

Stefania Animento, Kairit Kall, Valentin Niebler, Marge Unt, Triin Roosalu and Liis Ojamäe
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Stefania Animento: Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Kairit Kall: Tallinn University, Estonia
Valentin Niebler: Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Marge Unt: Tallinn University, Estonia
Triin Roosalu: Tallinn University, Estonia
Liis Ojamäe: Tallinn University and Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2025, vol. 46, issue 2, 448-468

Abstract: The proliferation of ride-hailing platforms in the last decade has been challenged by workers’ mobilization around the world. In order to complement the existing research on successful organizing, in this article the authors investigate the lack of collective resistance in two cases. By comparing the ride-hailing industry in Berlin (Germany) and Tallinn (Estonia), the authors explain the absence of collective mobilization in these different contexts. While ride-hailing in Berlin is more regulated than in Tallinn, drivers in both cities are structurally located in the weakest position within labour relations. Their isolation presents common features found in the business model and the work process, but also within wider societal structures and ideological landscape.

Keywords: Berlin; collective action; platform work; ride-hailing; Tallinn; Uber (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:46:y:2025:i:2:p:448-468

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X241259529

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