The Transformations of Work in Latin America—Platform Labour, Employment Relations, and the State
Chair(s): Mathew Johnson (University of Manchester, United Kingdom), Luciana Zorzoli (University of Essex), Angel Martin-Caballero (University of Manchester, United Kingdom)
Discussant(s): Damian Grimshaw (King's College London)
This Special Session brings together research on the ongoing transformations of work in Latin America, with a particular focus on platform labour, employment relations, and the evolving role of the state. It examines regulatory responses, emerging conflicts over digital labour governance, and the institutional dynamics shaping employment conditions. Addressing calls for greater attention to the role of the state in labour relations (Hodder & Martínez Lucio, 2021; Howell, 2021; Hyman, 2008) and the need for perspectives from the Global South in discussions on digitalisation and work transformation (Graham et al., 2017; Rani et al., 2023), this session provides a platform to examine the implications of these changes for labour rights, social protections, and decent work in increasingly fragmented labour markets.
The rise of platform work in Latin America offers a unique lens for analysing the reconfiguration of worker-employer-state relations. From ride-hailing and food delivery to digital freelancing and care work, digital platforms have proliferated from Mexico’s northern borders to Ushuaia’s southern shores, intensifying debates on informality, labour protections, and employment regulation. While some governments see platform work as a source of flexible, low-barrier entry employment, concerns persist over its precarious nature and its potential to exacerbate existing labour market challenges and inequalities (ILO, 2023).
Latin America, with its distinct historical trajectories and diverse institutional configurations, provides a compelling case study for understanding how the state and the labour market institutions are responding to these changes. Research from the region reveals divergent approaches and important gaps. Some countries—Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico—have implemented national regulatory measures, while sub-national jurisdictions have also introduced rules. Yet challenges persist, highlighting the present concerns about the effectiveness and enforcement capability of labour institutions to protect workers, including ‘non-traditional’ workers and enforcing compliance.
Drawing on de Souza (2006), contributions explore state actions along with how trade unions, social movements, and self-organised groups employ both top-down and bottom-up strategies to engage with, resist, or negotiate autonomy from the state, analysing how institutions shape and are shaped by worker mobilisation, legal frameworks, and market governance.
The liberalisation of markets at the turn of the century prompted varied responses across Latin America, resulting in a significant leftward shift, further reinforced by the global ‘commodity boom.’ A common trend was the increasing role of institutional and legal changes in labour politics, considered a pathway to revitalising unions and safeguarding against state interference and repression (Aleman, 2014). However, economic instability in the late 1990s and early 2000s, exacerbated by global competitive pressures and market reforms imposed by financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, led some national governments to roll back some pro-labour policies and social welfare provisions (Madrid, 2003).
In contemporary times, persistently high informality, sluggish economic growth, and a slow post-pandemic recovery have strained employment relations and social protection (Anner, 2024). Yet political polarisation has led to divergent national trajectories. Some countries, such as Mexico (2017, 2019 reforms and 2024 regulatory measures), Chile (2016 reforms, new labour regulations), and Colombia (ongoing Labour Reform debate), have pursued re-regulation and reorganisation of labour relations (Anner et al., 2024; Bensusan, 2020; Martin-Caballero et al., 2023; Perez Ahumada, 2021; Leyton García et al., 2022; OECD, 2024). In contrast, right-wing leaders like Bolsonaro, Bukele, and Milei advocate pro-market reforms, welfare cuts, and anti-union policies. These shifts demand new strategies from labour unions and workers' organisations (Atzeni et al., 2018; Senén González & Aravena Carrasco, 2023) and highlight the need for renewed analysis of Work, Employment, and the State in Latin America within global debates within and beyond labour platform novelty.
In conclusion, this proposal for a Special Session aims to enhance the critical scholarship on work, employment, and the state by sharing recent research on the complex and dynamic labour relations of Latin America. Building on Track IV core themes, the session will examine Latin America as a regional case study for the reconfiguration of labour institutions in response to digitalisation, precarity, and shifting employment relations. By focusing on platform work, it contributes to discussions on:
- The institutional challenges of regulating digital labour markets in the Global South.
- The extent to which state intervention can address platform work precarisation.
- The evolving role of collective bargaining and alternative worker organising strategies.
- The effectiveness of emerging regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms.
Ultimately, this session bridges regional and global debates on employment regulation, the role of the state and the future of work, offering insights that extend beyond Latin America to broader discussions on labour institutions and worker rights.
Presentations of the Special Session
The Dynamics of Regulatory Change in Platform Work: Chile and Spain in Comparative Perspective
Angel Martin-Caballero
University of Manchester
Industrial relations actors and policymakers are introducing new legal instruments to regulate platform work, yet little is known about their impact on labour regulation. This study examines Spain and Chile—two key benchmarks in the EU and Latin America—where Spain presumes employment for delivery riders, while Chile leaves classification unresolved.
Using a novel framework analysing enactment, enforcement, and compliance, the study explores how regulation unfolds across different regulatory spaces. A qualitative approach integrates 50+ interviews with policy and social actors alongside legal, employment, and media analysis.
Findings reveal contrasting regulatory approaches, uneven state enforcement capacities, and differing platform company responses. While Spain faces ongoing contestation, Chile exhibits weaker resistance, reinforcing business dominance and institutional drift. In Chile, platforms circumvent regulations without outright breaches, undermining labour protections. The study highlights the need for careful regulatory design, ensuring alignment with broader frameworks to enhance effective enforcement and compliance.
Decent Work in the Platform Economy: Rethinking Enforcement in Argentina
Luciana Zorzoli
University of Essex
The rise of platform work is reshaping employment relations and challenging regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms. This paper examines the role of inspections in regulating platform work, focusing on Argentina as a case study. Using qualitative interviews, secondary data, and legal analysis, it explores the strategies adopted by enforcement agencies, challenges encountered, and tensions between existing laws and platform-based employment.
The findings highlight the risks of platform exceptionalism, which enables regulatory circumvention, and the consequences of a fragmented enforcement landscape, where agencies face political and legal constraints. As platform work expands, the paper calls for a fundamental rethinking of enforcement, positioning it within broader debates on social dialogue and regulation’s function. This contestation extends to the state's role in safeguarding workers’ rights and revitalising labour protections amid global transformations—digitalisation, AI, the climate crisis, and demographic shifts—ensuring a decent future of work.
Social Dialogue and the State’s Role in Regulating Digital Labour in Chile
Daina Bellido De Luna
Universidad de Santiago de Chile
The governance of digital labour in Chile is shaped by state regulation, worker mobilisation, and institutional activism. Despite the enactment of Law 21.431 to regulate platform work, enforcement has been weak, as companies frequently fail to comply with minimum standards (Martín-Caballero, 2024; Bellido de Luna, 2024). Prior to this law, a tripartite consultative committee attempted to negotiate regulations, but structural barriers and lack of consensus hindered progress (Arab & Frontaura, 2022; Ministerio del Trabajo, 2022). This paper will therefore explore how Chile’s social dialogue mechanisms can adapt to discussions of platform work and assess the effectiveness of its institutional responses. It argues that strengthening tripartite initiatives is key to improving labour governance. Using content analysis of social dialogue programmes from the Labour Ministry and 16 interviews with key actors, the study contributes to Global South debates on digital labour governance, highlighting the challenges of enforcing rights in platform economies.
The Role of the State and Collective Action on Digital Platforms in Uruguay (2020-2024)
Nicolás Marrero
Universidad de la República
This article characterizes the collective action of platform workers in Uruguay and the role of the State in labor regulation between 2020 and 2024. It addresses two key questions: What dispute strategies did worker collectives use? How did the State intervene in regulating the sector?
Recent research in Uruguay (Marrero, 2023; De León & Pizzo, 2022) shows that digital platforms have expanded forms of labor exploitation, denying legal ties with workers. Taking advantage of technology and a permissive State, they present themselves as “technology companies” that mediate low-paid services, evade labor regulations, and deepen inequalities. Through algorithmic management, workers are classified as “independent contractors” and subjected to a piecework system, reviving capitalist exploitation models.
The platform economy has dismantled labor frameworks that provided minimum security, weakening unions and promoting radical individualism. This model detaches workers from the notion of “class,” fostering self-identification as “entrepreneurs of themselves” (Mariatti, 2019; Bröckling, 2015).
Between 2020 and 2024, platform workers’ collective action demanded State intervention to guarantee labor rights and regulate algorithms. The State’s response was contradictory: the judiciary ruled entirely in favor of recognizing employment relationships, yet the Executive Branch and Parliament passed a law legitimizing “false self-employment” and allowing unrestricted algorithmic management.
In 2025, a progressive government will take office, presenting new challenges for collective action and the redefinition of the State’s role in labor regulation.
Methodologically, this article is based on a survey of 105 platform workers, 25 interviews, press analysis of collective actions, and documentary review.
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