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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
July 2022 35
C
ovid 19 has generated an increased
dependency on digital technologies,
escalating workplace surveillance. It
has increased time-space compression
such as algorithmic monitoring: Time;
and the ubiquitous visibility of Zoom/WhatsApp:
Space.
These devices have been hungrily applied by the
forces of contemporary capital accumulation.
Michel Foucault examined the significance of
social reformer Jeremy Bentham’s architectural
concept, the panopticon, which envisaged
prisoners coming under surveillance from all
angles.
We are now seeing internet-mediated
organisations, such as Deliveroo, transitioning
away from human-centric surveillance, to a more
algorithmic, ‘human-in-the-loop’ model of
workplace surveillance.
In these roles, workers are being increasingly
supervised by algorithms, while human
supervisors are beginning to play a secondary role.
The observer within the panoptic structure of
surveillance may not need to be human at all.
Maynooth University’s Professor Rob Kitchin
claims that ubiquitous digital technology allows
workers more temporal flexibility.
However. he attributes the growing
unpredictability of labour relations in general to
the pervasive global roll-out of digital platforms,
especially within the ‘gig economy’.
In fact, he believes that digital platforms have
become crucial to enabling the mass shift in work
relations, insofar as they allow for labour to be
organised at a distance and instantaneously, and
Digital fast-food platforms like Deliveroo allow
for labour to be organised at a distance and
instantaneously, and make work-time labour
relations a lot more flexible for employers who
also benefit from working in a legal void
By Shane Brock
make work-time labour relations a lot more flexible
for the employer.
In essence, he says that the wider reach and
implementation of digital platforms modifies
labour relations, making them more precarious. As
a result, workers become subject to “time-
stresses, and can feel like they’re constantly on a
kind of digital leash”.
I spoke to ‘Miguel’, a food-delivery ‘rider’, who
described his role as like “a new system of slavery”.
He explained how, before the pandemic, workers
would bid for their scheduled time of work a week
in advance. Those who were best ranked by the
platforms’ algorithms got priority, and as many
hours as they wished, while less ‘disciplined’ riders
were shafted.
Miguel explained how the platforms have since
adopted a new model. Now, they have all
implemented a timing system that allows workers
to work at any time, for as long as they wish.
It appears that the delivery riders have attained
absolute temporal autonomy. However, it comes
at a cost.
Miguel described the increasingly stringent
timing system of Deliveroo:
“If you don’t complete your order in time, they’ll
rate you with a sad face…After three notifications,
they’ll block your account”.
He explained how he had begun to notice how
the timing systems in place appeared to adapt in
real-time while he was working. He explained that:
“It would jump from 18-23 mins on one trip from
A to B, to 15-20 mins on another trip along the
same route …. ”.
He pointed out that because riders are kept
unaware as to how they are ranked or prioritised
by the platforms’ algorithms, they often feel
unjustly punished.
Miguel described how, at the height of the
pandemic, Deliveroo introduced a tiered licensing
system. Almost overnight, they introduced the
electric bike, motorbike, and car accounts.
He explained that the riders’ priority, pay rate
per order, as well as the required distances for
delivery depend on what vehicle the rider
possesses.
“After this system was introduced, they began
paying less and less, without informing the sta
that they were reducing the rates”.
The increasingly poor pay rates trigger many
riders to game the distanced algorithmic
management systems.
It becomes necessary for many of them to work
for all three food-delivery platforms (Deliveroo,
Just Eat and UberEats) at once, meaning that they
often collect and deliver multiple orders
simultaneously, via two or more platforms.
Miguel also explained that only those with an
Irish/EU passport, or a Stamp 4 visa, could ocially
own their own account with these platforms. He
claims that a large majority of riders are Latin
American students, many of whom arrive in Ireland
to learn English, and must abide by strict 20-hour
workweek visas (STAMP 2).
Upon arrival, many of the students are stuck
waiting up to six months for PPS numbers, GNIB
cards, or Irish work permits, and require a means
to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads.
The illegitimate economy beckons them.
According to Miguel, the majority of the workers
illegally sub-let their accounts from legitimate
account holders for a weekly fee. The rate being
charged for accounts varies between 15 and 40
Euros per week. However, some holders rent
bundles of all three licences; allowing them to
charge a higher fee.
“If you have three accounts, it will cost you
around 60-70 Euros per week (An entire 8-hour
workday)”.
Intriguingly in view of Fine Gael’s mishandling of
Uber’s lobbying – exposed recently by the ICIJ –
Miguel, as well as the English Language Students
Union, have brought this issue to the awareness of
Leo Varadkar, the Tánaiste, and SIPTU, Ireland’s
largest trade union. Nevertheless, the sub-letting
of accounts continues to go completely unchecked.
If Miguel’s claims are true, then the food delivery
platforms have no duty of care obligations, and are
not vicariously liable, for the vast majority of sta
working for them in Dublin City Centre and the
surrounding area.
Miguel emphasised that:
“These gig services, they are working in the
shape of a legal void…They know we are vulnerable
in this legal void, so they take advantage of us”.
Shane Brock recently completed a thesis ‘How do
Digital Technologies Aect Workers’ Perceptions of
Time and Space?’ in Grith College for which he
interviewed Miguel and others.
Exploitative
Deliveroo,
government inertia,
Time and Space
POLITICS
The future of work as
experienced by an exploited
Deliveroo rider in Dublin
