To understand what precarious labour is and how it arises, we need to talk about unpaid labour,’ says Valeria Pulignano. The Italian sociologist works at KU Leuven researching labour sociology, European labour markets and inequality. ‘Unpaid work can be part of a sustainable, healthy labour market. But if the labour market does not work properly, it leads to inequality and poverty."
Despite unpaid labour being an important topic in the platform economy debate, you hear relatively little about it. To get a better picture, Martijn Arets went to Leuven for the WageIndicator Foundation's The Gig Work Podcast for a conversation with Pulignano. We talked about unpaid labour, the influence platforms have on it and solutions to ensure a better balance in the labour market.
The episode's highlights can also be found in a blog at Gigpedia.org.
The Gig Work Podcast is available at Apple Podcasts, Springcast, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, Pandora, and Pocket Casts.