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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @08:21PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @08:21PM (#922584)

    Different AC here.

    I do not propose to agree with the previous AC, but to translate, he or she is proposing:

    1) Licensing costs for taxi medallions (e.g. I think they cost about $500k in NYC a few years ago before the advent of these so-called ride-sharing apps)
    2) Poor people will not be able to afford that initial capital cost
    3) Poor people can afford the relatively low cost of Uber/Lyft/whatever startup, so can begin being faux-taxis immediately

    Additionally:

    4) Having a cap on the number of taxis will result in a diminished supply, thus shortages (e.g. "I want to get a taxi, but I need to wait 60 minutes for one to arrive at my door")

    You are postulating, which is in agreement, that:

    5) there is no a labor shortage, there is a taxi shortage. The reduced supply results in higher costs, thus higher profits, thus more people wanting to go into the business than can (implicating the high cost of taxi medallions)

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @08:46PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 20 2019, @08:46PM (#922596)

    Minimum wage and the like causes a job shortage which is reflected in unemployment or misemployment (people working jobs they are not qualified for, or working in the black market, etc). I have no idea why someone would think this causes a labor shortage.

  • (Score: 2) by dry on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:34AM

    by dry (223) on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:34AM (#922885) Journal

    Uber requires a fairly new vehicle which most poor people can't afford.