Asymmetric “partners”: work and health of app drivers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This paper is the product of an on-going research’s preliminary results with app drivers and aims to discuss how the game of for-ces has occurred in the relationships established between companies, workers, regulatory bodies, and society. This exploratory qualitative study employed document analysis, a questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews with drivers linked to associations in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil. The analysis was conducted from a tri-polar perspective based on the theoretical-me-thodological framework of Ergology and social life’s micro and macroscopic spaces, encompas-sing the poles referring to human activity, the market, and politics. The results show a back-ground of norms built on this work about the re-lationship with companies, passengers, and the drivers themselves, besides issues raised from the COVID-19 pandemic. We can conclude that it is necessary not to counteract technological evo-lution to achieve workers’ rights and health. We should recall that no action aimed at ensuring the reconciliation of health, work, and rights will advance without relying on a fruitful and balan-ced trend between the three poles mentioned.