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Worker-Owned Apps Are Trying to Fix the Gig Economy's Exploitation

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday November 20 2019, @09:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the routing-around-damage dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

What would happen if low-wage workers came together to cut out the middleman and build their own platforms? This isn't just a thought experiment. Worker-owned apps are already providing real alternatives to dismal working conditions in the global gig economy.

Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pa75a8/worker-owned-apps-are-trying-to-fix-the-gig-economys-exploitation

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by theluggage on Wednesday November 20 2019, @02:32PM (5 children)

    by theluggage (1797) on Wednesday November 20 2019, @02:32PM (#922369)

    What would happen if low-wage workers came together to cut out the middleman and build their own platforms?

    Well, the people running the successful ones would spend more time, and make more money, running the platform than doing their original work. Eventually, they'd realise that they could become mega-rich by either taking the company public or selling it out to Gooberzon or vulture capitalists.

    Or, if that didn't happen, if the workers were incorruptible, and Gooberzon couldn't stop it with patents, the big boys would suddenly become far more interested in regulation "because worker rights and safety" and lobby (or at least pull the briar-patch routine) for all sorts of new laws and liabilities which are always more burdensome on smaller organisations who don't have in-house lawyers and armies of administrators.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @03:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @03:52PM (#922412)

    Bimgo! One of the best posts on SN in a long time.

  • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday November 21 2019, @12:57AM (2 children)

    by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 21 2019, @12:57AM (#922752) Homepage Journal

    Isn't there such a thing as a worker-owned coop in the USA?

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by dry on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:40AM

      by dry (223) on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:40AM (#922887) Journal

      That would be socialism and every American knows socialism means lots of dead people.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 24 2019, @07:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 24 2019, @07:22PM (#924240)

      yes, but they are not super common.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:14PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:14PM (#923805) Journal

    Well, the people running the successful ones would spend more time, and make more money, running the platform than doing their original work. Eventually, they'd realise that they could become mega-rich by either taking the company public or selling it out to Gooberzon or vulture capitalists.

    What's supposed to be the problem here? That's not corruption. Would be nice actually, if that kept happening.

    the big boys would suddenly become far more interested in regulation "because worker rights and safety" and lobby (or at least pull the briar-patch routine) for all sorts of new laws and liabilities which are always more burdensome on smaller organisations who don't have in-house lawyers and armies of administrators.

    Yes, I agree this is a problem. In fact, my thinking is that it's already happening with the "big boys" being established taxi companies.