Drawing on a series of interviews with key actors including representatives of the main trade unions, this paper considers the response of unions in the UK to the emergence and growth of platform work. Comparing the partly different strategies adopted by traditional and alternative unions in respect of the representation of platform workers’ interests, it demonstrates that the unions’ choices have been shaped by the characteristics and resources of the unions themselves, by prevailing political conditions and, perhaps above all, by the restrictive legal framework that excludes many platform workers from the scope of employment legislation. Without recourse to either a legally protected freedom to take industrial action or the statutory recognition procedure, unions have only exceptionally been able to negotiate collective agreements on behalf of platform workers. Instead, traditional unions have focussed on broader political strategies to fight precariousness, including wielding an influence on policymaking, especially through their relations with the Labour Party. Alternative unions have channelled resources into organising and mobilising platform workers and supporting them in campaigning, protesting and bringing strategic litigation.

中文翻译：

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英国的工会和平台工人：法律阴影下的工人代表

通过对包括主要工会代表在内的主要参与者的一系列采访，本文考虑了英国工会对平台工作的出现和发展的反应。比较传统工会和非传统工会在代表平台工人利益方面采取的部分不同的策略，它表明工会的选择受到工会本身的特征和资源、普遍的政治条件以及可能高于所有这些都是通过限制性法律框架将许多平台工人排除在就业立法范围之外。不求助于受法律保护的采取罢工行动的自由或法定承认程序，工会只能代表平台工人谈判集体协议。相反，传统工会专注于更广泛的政治战略来对抗不稳定，包括对政策制定施加影响，尤其是通过与工党的关系。另类工会已将资源用于组织和动员平台工作人员，并支持他们进行竞选、抗议和提起战略诉讼。