Building Legitimacy in the UK Platform Economy: Representative Strategies of Independent and Mainstream Trade Unions

ABSTRACT In this paper we explore the representative strategies of different trade unions within the UK platform economy, and the efforts to build legitimacy among a disparate workforce. Using data from multiple in‐depth research projects, we find that independent unions and self‐organised groups are competing to build representative claims from the ground up by identifying, amplifying, and acting upon shared grievances rooted in the labour process of platform work. In contrast, traditional unions largely rely on incorporating platform workers into representative structures through formal union membership, recognition agreements, and collective bargaining mechanisms. We argue that while there are differences between labour movement actors in terms of representative strategies, the declining power and legitimacy of the labour movement as a whole means that there remain persistent representation gaps which leave many without a meaningful voice in negotiations with employers and the state.