A New Labour Unionism in Digital Taylorism? Explaining the first cycle of contention at Amazon Logistics

This chapter analyzes the cycle of worker contention at Amazon logistics in Italy, explaining the link between digitalization in logistics and worker mobilization. In this case, workers’ collective action has shown the critical aspects of the Amazon model and its introduction of algorithms in delivery systems. The analysis of the mobilization is twofold. Focused on worker power, repertoire of action and claims, it explains on the one hand, how technology has affected working conditions and on the other hand, how worker organization triggered specific forms of unionism. While Amazon’s algorithmic innovation brings in what can be called a digital taylorism, this case of contention shows the forms of worker mobilization, which led to a critique of its implications and to new processes of unionization. Finally, the case disconfirms any determinism and shows how technological innovation can be negotiated as part of collective bargaining where the regulation of an employment relations system plays a central role.