[PAPER PUBLICATION] Power resources and grassroots activism: Worker organising potentials in logistics centres and online food delivery in Poland

28 July 2025 By

Adam Mrozowicki and Szymon Pilch, INCA researchers from the University of Wrocław, have published a paper entitled “Power resources and grassroots activism: Worker organising potentials in logistics centres and online food delivery in Poland” in the journal Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation.

The paper, prepared within the framework of the INCA project, analyzes how workers in logistics centres and online food delivery services in Poland are developing their collective power under difficult conditions. Based on 30 interviews conducted between 2020 and 2024 with warehouse employees and app-based couriers, the study concludes that opportunities for worker organizing are stronger in warehouses than in food delivery services.

This is due to several key factors:

  • Grassroots Leadership and New Tactics: Grassroots union leaders are experimenting with new tactics that successfully combine local solidarity within warehouses with broader networks of social movements and international alliances.
  • The “Reverse Amazon Effect”: Amazon’s visibility as a global symbol of labor struggles has served as a rallying point to inspire collective action, rather than weaken it.
  • Barriers in Food Delivery: Unlike warehouses, couriers face significant barriers as their work is fragmented, hyperprecarious, and fully managed by algorithms, which makes building long-term organizations more difficult.

In short, the research shows that while structural challenges limit traditional union power, innovation, grassroots leadership, and cross-border solidarity can turn vulnerability into collective strength. The study sheds light on how workers in Central and Eastern Europe are pushing back against precarity in the digital age and offers a valuable perspective on the future of labor movements.

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.19.2.0006