The future of social dialogue in the platform economy: The case of Slovenia

This project addresses two main problems identified with regards to reconfigurations of work in platform capitalism: the potential loss of bargaining power of workers over their pay and working conditions within the seemingly invisible process of algorithmic management of digital giants, and the issue of decent work due to potential precarisation of platform workers and the dissolution of workers’ rights. Slovenia’s political system has a long tradition of strong labour regulation with trade unions representing the core of workers’ rights movements. The Economic and Social Council of the Republic of Slovenia involves employers' associations, trade unions and the government of the Republic of Slovenia. The global platform economy brings important challenges to this system: not only from the perspective of workers and the future of their collective organisation but also from the perspective of employers and regulators positioned in a small country at the periphery of global platform economy. Through co-participatory research in partnership with The Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia this project examines how platform management practices, strategies and actions of workers and government regulation interact to shape pay and working conditions, secure control of the labour process and limit or expand bargaining position of platform workers – from the broader perspective of what these trends might mean for the future of tripartite system in Slovenia and similar countries. The project is composed of four work packages, four of which are analytical, while the fifth aims to maximise the impact of the project: • WP1 focuses on the analysis of statistical data and the analysis of operation and discourses of selected case studies of platforms present at the Slovenian market. The project will examine how the management practices of these platforms and the strategies and responses of workers affect the design of salaries / rewards, working conditions, control of the work process and the negotiating position of platform workers. • DS2 aims to develop a cross-sectoral understanding of platform workers' experiences, identify conditions that increase the benefits of platform work, and identify (individual and collective) tactics of negotiation and resistance to platform management. WP2 also includes co-participatory research in partnership with the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia. • DS3 focuses on the analysis of alternative approaches to social dialogue in the platform economy, as identified from research in other countries to consider the potential of such approaches and their effects in the Slovenian system. • DS4 builds on findings from other work packages and, with the help of computer modelling of potential scenarios of platform work and the tripartite system of Slovenia, identifies possible futures for social dialogue in the tripartite system as we know it in Central Europe. • DS5 focuses on maximizing project impacts: knowledge transfer and capacity building of all three key stakeholders in the Slovenian tripartite social dialogue system: decision-makers, employers' and platforms' representatives, and workers' representatives. Expected impacts of the projects address the SDG 8: decent work and sustained economic growth. We expect the project to contribute to decreasing and preventing future precarisation of platform workers by identifying potentially problematic management practices, identifying workers’ inequalities according to gender, class, age, nationality, and employment status. The project will also contribute to extending benefits of platform work to workers by identifying conditions under which platform work brings positive work reconfigurations, identifying and building necessary new digital skills, aiding in collective organization of platform workers and influencing policy- making and potentially also platform management.