Unrest Against Bogus Self-Employment? Identity Struggles and Resistance Among Platform Riders in Taiwan

Abstract

Where unions are weak and governance authoritarian, gig workers rely on everyday resistance rather than organizing. Taiwan is distinctive: both employees and the self-employed can unionize, and riders have formed unions, yet working conditions remain insufficient. Taiwan’s employment relations provide few worker-participation mechanisms, leaving terms of employment largely determined by employer-imposed rules without worker input. Platforms use consent, freedom and fear to make standard employment appear undesirable, limiting solidarity-based demands for re-employment. The employee–self-employed binary thus forces riders to choose between autonomy and protection. Drawing on Taiwan’s experience, labour-law reform should respond to riders’ demands by establishing countervailing mechanisms and participatory rights – information, consultation and codetermination – empowering them to challenge algorithmic control, curb subordination and secure genuine autonomy.