> I can't repeat this enough. How are they being short-changed? If someone makes $10 per hour some of the time, $8 on average, with some "hours" amounting to

> I can't repeat this enough. How are they being short-changed? If someone makes $10 per hour some of the time, $8 on average, with some "hours" amounting to $1 per hour, why is that a) unfair or b) a problem, assuming the average wage is itself fair and the worker wants to continue doing the job? From a labor power standpoint, gig economy firms are significantly weaker than industrial firms. Most Uber drivers have the Lyft app running at the same time, and soon enough they might have several more running (including one that is from a worker-run cooperative). So gig economy firms have very little market power over employees. They simply offer infrastructure for matching supply and demand and take a bit of profit in the process. The only way for gig economy firms to succeed is via employee loyalty. There has been some indication that they are competing for loyalty, but I think so far it's mostly just funneling VC money into financial incentives, not long-term loyalty.