Amazon drivers organize around narrow pragmatic goals, not political identity
Evidence
Individualization at work, contractual fragmentation and the diverse backgrounds of the drivers acted as constraints, inhibiting the development of a shared set of grievances and the elaboration of collective action. At the same time, the power of workers flowing from their specific skills, along with their capacity to attract the support of traditional unions, contributed to the rise of mobilization. These conditions produced a twofold dynamic: They attracted new workers to unionism while, at the same time, pushing unions toward more conflictual repertoires, such as strikes at principal Amazon stations that involved pickets and blockages of delivery. Though aggregation involved a preliminary recognition of a specific working identity, it developed around specific and pragmatically defined goals related to working conditions, contractual rights and remuneration. In sum, the encounters with traditional unions in the logistics sector happened on a very pragmatic basis. — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds, 105
Categorization
- XREF: Directly contrasts with the food-delivery couriers’ broader ‘precarious platform worker’ identity frame discussed elsewhere in this paper — the reader’s stated purpose is exactly this comparison. — connects to: Amazon drivers’ unionization won recognition as logistics workers but stayed workplace-bound without broader politicization. — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds: Solidarity…, 85; Amazon drivers mobilized a narrow identity frame demanding recognition as skilled logistics workers. — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds: Solidarity…, 99; Amazon driver mobilization is deliberately depoliticized — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds: Solidarity…, 108 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Amazon drivers built workplace-only solidarity while couriers developed broader political identity frames.
#corroborates(0.92) — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds, 116