‘We’re trying to reimagine this gig economy as a force for good’: Problematising labour processes in cargo bike logistics

Cargo bike deliveries have gained popularity, promoted as a ‘more sustainable’ alternative to van deliveries. Many cargo bike delivery companies, and businesses that use them, position themselves as ethical employers seeking to improve working conditions in logistics. Using Labour Process Theory, this article examines the evolving dynamics of managerial control and worker resistance in the sector, focusing on tensions between precarity and exploitation in 15 London-based companies. Despite companies’ discursive aspirations to avoid or exit platformisation, they remain embedded in a logistics sector characterised by intense competition and narrow financial and temporal margins. Processes of flexibilisation and the repeated externalisation of risks and costs onto workers are widespread. Companies resort to gig economy-style practices to reduce costs, becoming an interesting border case between platform logistics and traditional postal services. The article draws attention to ways in which the urban environment and the materiality of working conditions shape work processes, revealing gendered experiences of discrimination, harassment and precarity. It highlights the challenges of creating ‘green’ jobs in a sector characterised by speed, growth and unbridled competition as fundamental logics.