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"However, independent contractors, who can have limited liability corporations or other incorporated entities in their own right, do not have many of those righ
by kop316 7y ago
"However, independent contractors, who can have limited liability corporations or other incorporated entities in their own right, do not have many of those rights, including the right to collectively bargain."
I am not inclined to believe this is correct. As a hobby, I am a musician and a member of The American Federation of Musicians. Through them, I have done quite a few gigs where I was not an employee of the place I played, but they did the collective bargaining.
I imagine if Uber/Lyft drivers want to form such a union, that would be an extremely powerful way of doing such.
- klyrs 7y agoIndeed, one such guild already exists. This seems like a strange oversight for an otherwise well-researched article. Unions represent employees, guilds represent contractors. https://drivingguild.org https://drivingguild.org
- kop316 7y agoI would argue it's not just a "strange oversight", a lot of the article falls apart with that knowledge. The article continues with: "This is because we have a different label for when different corporations get together and determine the cost for their services. We call it price fixing. And price fixing, under the Sherman Antitrust Act, is illegal." However, such a practice is legal and is very well known. Musicians do it, and a lot of other skilled labor have similar things (I seem to recall IBEW is another such organization).
- mrfredward 7y agoAccording to the FTC: "A plain agreement among competitors to fix prices is almost always illegal, whether prices are fixed at a minimum, maximum, or within some range." https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/dealings-competitors/price-fixing https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a... I know there are examples that don't appear to conform to this rule, but I don't think it's fair to make a general statement that businesses can collectively bargain when the FTC is so clear about price fixing.
- jsty 7y agoI'm also curious about this - from what I remember from the relevant bits of history lessons, the early antitrust laws were enacted at least in part to quash the price-fixing of guilds. Unions have rights to conduct in collective bargaining, but I'm not aware of any similar allowances for guilds of independent contractors to set prices collectively where it would have anticompetitive effects - they're treated just the same as other traders / companies.
- kop316 7y agoI am curious if the difference is having such an organization as an option versus finding people off of the street. In that way, using a guild is one option, but they do not prevent you from using other options.