The role of worker collectives among app-based food delivery couriers in France, Germany and Norway

Platform workers in food delivery challenge poor working conditions and pay across several countries. Couriers have started organizing themselves on their own as well as in collaboration with trade unions. The existing literature lacks an exploration of the role of a new type of emergent actors, the new 'worker collectives' and their interplay with 'old' collective actors. This chapter fills this gap by examining and contributing to a better understanding of the couriers' road to mobilization in France, Germany and Norway. Based on Kelly's theory of how individuals become collective actors (Kelly, 1998) the chapter argues the following: while there are many similarities in the processes of mobilization in France, Germany and Norway, the alliances that emerge during particular courses of action, however, differ between the country cases due to a diversity in action repertoire and context. This indicates a path-dependent development in line with the institutional context of industrial relations systems.