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I worry sometimes about Uber, TaskRabbit, AirBnB and the like. Sometimes it seems like too much of their success rests on their Walmartesque avoidance of benefi
by apozem 12y ago
I worry sometimes about Uber, TaskRabbit, AirBnB and the like. Sometimes it seems like too much of their success rests on their Walmartesque avoidance of benefits, the kinds of benefits which blue-collar folks have relied on for years. If too many people get caught out in the cold, the government might start pushing back against those companies to protect the workers.
- BrainInAJar 12y ago> If too many people get caught out in the cold, the government might start pushing back against those companies to protect the workers. That seems unlike the government, they've done nothing to address the shrinking of the middle class, the dismantling of unions and the shift from stable employment towards mcjobs, so why would they do anything about the uberization of the workforce?
- sliverstorm 12y agoJust as last time this happened, when unions were created, government did not push back of its own accord- the workers had enough and lit a fire under their government's a.
- BrainInAJar 12y agothe last time this happened, when unions were created, the government was basically forced in to supporting the unions by virtue of the fact that communist revolutions were happening all over the world
- innguest 12y agoThose workers are consciously choosing to go work for those companies, taking all differences in consideration. Why do they need to be "protected", and from what? I think you're assuming that the way things are is necessarily better for everyone.
- ergl 12y agoI don't have any citations, but I would venture most people working on these platforms do it because they need extra money. Nobody quits his day job to drive people around in Uber or to spend 8 hours a day in Amazon turk. Most of these startups try to create a monopoly at the level of the platform, but force workers to compete against each other, undermining solidarity between them that facilitates an unfair exchange
- dnautics 12y agoI worry sometimes that when the government attempts to carve out 'protections for workers' (seriously what do most legislators know about labor anyways), that they will unintendedly create systems that enrich the already enriched.
- prostoalex 12y agoI feel that with ACA the government is making an opposite stand - don't trust corporations with choosing your health coverage and picking doctors. Instead focus on the money and then use that money to buy a health benefits package that's the most convenient to you.
- baddox 12y agoWhy do you expect the average government to care more about workers can the average "sharing economy" company?