The document discusses the impact of digital platforms on labor markets, highlighting the rise of gig economy and crowd-working models that often exploit workers while circumventing traditional employment regulations. It emphasizes the need for legal redefinitions of worker classifications and social safety nets to provide fair protections. Additionally, it explores potential movements towards cooperativism and collective action to advocate for workers' rights in the evolving landscape of employment.

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Imparare il Cambiamento
@ProgettoRENA, Milano
Commoditized Workers
Taking digital unionizing seriously
Antonio Aloisi – Bocconi University, Milan | @_Aloisi

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All we need is sharing. Really?
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Global trend towards:
1. casualization of work
1.b decentralization of structures
1.c. creation of dispersed production
networks
Opportunities for people
willing to find a job or to
top up their salaries
[flexibility]
Circumvent employment
regulation, by operating
informally in traditionally
regulated markets
[informalisation]
Companies benefit thanks
to technologies that allow
cutting transaction costs
by outsourcing
[computerization]

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Why #platformcoop?
n Facing a digital version of Taylorism, i.e.the efficient exploitation
(or expropriation) of work at the detriment of education and skill
development of workers à invisible workers
n Websites like TaskRabbit,Elance,Lift,Handy (“commodities market” vs
“knowledge economy”) threaten to dismantle traditional labour markets
as they do not seem to ensure a fair protection of workers’ rights
n This new configuration implies wages fixed by
a dynamic calculation of supply and demand, and every
worker’s act constantly traced, appraised and
“subject to the sometimes harsh light of customer satisfaction”
3

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“Employing humans-­as-­a-­service”
Jeff Bezos said
n A preliminary definition of “crowd-working”:
n “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent
(usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined,
generally large group of people in the form of an open call”
n These tools have the potential to “chop up” a broad array
of traditional jobs into detached tasks that can be allocated to workers
just when they are needed à on-demand economy / workers on tap
n Rating system à monitor and discourage
n This new configuration implies wages fixed by a dynamic calculation of
supply and demand, and every worker’s act constantly traced, appraised
and “subject to the sometimes harsh light of customer satisfaction”
4

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?
5
Legal issue: do workers in the on-
demand economy continue to be
independent contractors (according
to participation agreements: not
employees, in a word) even though
many indicators reveal a
disguised employment relationship
(disproportionate presence of
vulnerable players)?

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n Whether a worker is an employee
or a contractor depends on a
“multifactorial” test based on
the facts emerging from the
employment relationship.
n the possibility of having free
personal judgement and control
over one’s own work,
n the way in which tasks are
performed,
n the power of termination,
n the “economic realities” and
the concrete dependency in
relation with the employer,
n the permanency of the
relationship,
n the number of working hours,
n the power of direction exercised
by the employee,
n the freedom of managing its own
time schedule,
n the ownership of equipment,
n the method of payment (hours vs
project),
n the degree of flexibility and
protections,
n the disparity of relative
bargaining power.
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The multifactorial test

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Class actions
n A federal judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit
that examine the employment classification of Uber
drivers, this could be the beginning of a slow legal
challenge: the ride-hailing company’s business model
could be “disrupted” (does this set a precedent?)
n Lyft, a competitor to Uber that has also raised venture capital, faces a
similar class action.
n The California Labor Commissioner’s Office (administrative organ)
ruled that Barbara Ann Berwick, a former Uber driver,
should have been considered an employee.
7

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n “Rather than forcing workers to litigate the issue of
employee status on a case-by-case basis, policymakers
could provide for direct, automatic coverage
of on-demand workers under core labor laws”
(Rebecca Smith and Sarah Leberstein)
n Provide a social safety net:
n Health coverage, insurance against workplace injuries,
paid vacations and maternity leave: these have long
been universal entitlements in many economies.
(Arun Sundararajan)
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A social safety net

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From ownership to membership
n Nothing new: companies such as term agencies have
long made workers “bid for jobs on a daily basis, work
for piece rate, or contract for short-term jobs”.
What changes here is scale and speed.
n “Use the past to inform the fight to revive the labor
movement today”
n Organizations: Freelancers Union, the NYC Taxi Alliance,
CADA, TurkerNation, the Domestic Workers Alliance
9

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n Rubeny and Wilkinson: considerations at the basis of the
contemporary use of home-based outsourcing:
(1) technology;
(2) work organization;
(3) avoidance of collective action;
(4) product market;
(5) labor cost.
n Outsourcing stops workers entering into contact and
the rise of “sodality” by fragmenting the labor force
n Competition could prevent from cooperating, so that
opportunistic behaviours may be easily incentivised
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Collective action

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n The importance of social media in creating a “sense of community”
(or a “fantasy of community in an atomized population”):
n all these platforms use gadgets, instant marketing, and partnerships in order to
engage people and get them involved towards these challenges between
“old/boring/institutionalized” and “new/amazing/entrepreneurial”
n Just think of Lyft: pink moustaches.
“a brand identity and emblematize
the touchy-feely spirit that Lyft
has adopted as its credo. Drivers bump
fists with their passengers at the end of each ride”.
“a more human vision for the service industry”
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A sense of community

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n The company added a “de Blasio’s Uber” widget, available for over
2 million NYC users, that will either always show no cars available or
wait times of 25 minutes.
n The feature prompts users to take action
and send an email to Mayor Bill de Blasio
and the city council opposing the new bill.
n Uber told that the new feature will
“demonstrate what life for NYC riders would be like if de
Blasio’s plan to limit Uber is passed into law”.
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The Uber-­ization of activism

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n “Most models focus either on leveraging networks of existing
resources, capital and volunteers then charging rents for platform
use or on forging platform monopolies that lock-in users so that
their data can then be monetised”.
Izabella Kaminska
n Technology may be neutral, but grass roots should be built
bottom up, not top down.
n We should be able to recognize the profound difference between
Uber’s capitalistic populism and “authentic” organizing for action.
Edward T. Walker
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Avoid the Uber-­ization of activism

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The ‘Fight-­For-­15’ campaign’s legacy
n Nearly 3 years ago, about 200 NYC fast-food workers interrupted
their jobs, demanding higher pay.
n The protest was not small.
It is debateable whether it has obtained what it asked for:
wage gains for low-­wage workers.
n The major “big chain” employers - retailers Wal-Mart, McDonald’s
stores – not exceeding the hourly rate of $9 today
n The #FF15’s most significant mission accomplished - the approval
of modest minimum-wage hikes in more than ten states – is still on-
going (gradually).We cannot say “they won the war”.
15

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n Next step: “15 and a union”
n Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has made some inroads organizing home-care agencies like Hill’s, framing the
efforts as part of the same fight to boost fast-food worker pay and lift wage floors in urban areas. And union contracts, while
they can take a considerable amount of time to achieve, tend to produce meaningful wage gains. (Cole Stangler)
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Gaining momentum after #FF15
§ Like great unions’
campaigns of the past,
FF15 is raising questions
about social citizenship and
worker rights in America.

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o Turkopticona potential source of worker organizing in virtue of
class-consciousness “an activist system that allows workers to
publicize and evaluate their relationships with employers”.
o The website permits Turkers “to engage one another in mutual aid”.
n Researchers put a provocative task on the platform, asking workers
to define an ideal “Workers’ Bill of Rights” from their point of view.
o Dynamo a community founded by scholars, which could be seen
as the first step toward granting Turkers a collective voice.
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Amazon Mechanical Turk
An attempt to organize

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n The website (actually a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome,
see turkopticon.ucsd.edu) also permits Turkers “to engage one
another in mutual aid”.
n Launched in late 2008,Turkopticon is a browser plug-in application
that offers a way for workers to rate MTurk employers and avoid
those with bad reputations.
n Irani and Silberman, during a survey, received 67 responses and found out that “35
workers felt that their work was regularly rejected unfairly or arbitrarily,26 workers
demanded faster payment (Amazon allows employers 30-days to evaluate and pay for
work),7 explicitly mentioned a ‘minimum wage’ or ‘minimum payment’ per HIT,14
mentioned ‘fair’ compensation generally,8 expressed dissatisfaction with employers’
and Amazon’s lack of response to their concerns”
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Amazon Mechanical Turk
Turkoptikon

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n It is a community designed, founded, adapted by scholars
n “Dynamo is more like a virtual union hall, a worker-
only safe space where workers can post ideas about
activist actions anonymously,” Irani said.
n “A platform to gather, gain critical mass, and mobilize” + “it generates
change, whether that take the form of pixels, profit, or progress”.
n This trend deserves attention, Providers are a platform’s best
economic inputs, they should be protected, though AMT can
tolerate the loss of accounts that do not accept the system’s terms
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Amazon Mechanical Turk
Dynamo

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n In August 2014, a group of drivers established the California App-
based Drivers Association, a sort of Uber drivers union.
n The same happened in Seattle and NewYork City...
n Threats of work stoppage are the order of the day.
n People want to join forces.
n A feeling of dissatisfaction and outrage towards Uber
employment – and price, too – models and unilateral
changes in T&C.
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Uber
Strikes and protests

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https://www.fb.com/uberfreedom

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Organizing or unionizing?
ü Workers will gather in communities where it is feasible to exchange
knowledge and tricks.
ü The blog “Ride share guy” provides guidance and instructions to
drivers on maximizing incomes from the diverse car sharing apps.
ü “Peers.org” could be considered a “power-organizer”;
o a system of pooling many accounts into one, organizing, caring,
supporting participants in the sharing economy, both its freelance
population
ü Guilds like “Peers.org” and “Freelancers Union” are starting to
engage in a struggle aimed at pooling bargaining power, also
in order to let contractors access promotional health insurance
22

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A new model is possible #1
n BlueCrew provides on-demand labor but pays
workers as employees.
n The company prefers this model since it can avoid potential tax liability
and other problems arising from an incorrect classification, while workers
get stable and secure work.
n InstaCart, grocery delivery service, allows its
personal shoppers the possibility to switch from
contractor to employee status.
n The decision follows a change to Instacart’s business model.
23

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n The food preparation and delivery service Munchery,
the personal assistant company Alfred,
and the office cleaning service Managed by Qii
hire workers as employees, not independent contractors
à tales of Responsible Business Practices in the On-­Demand Economy
n In addition to avoiding lawsuits, companies consider increased
efficiency, strong commitment and worker retention
as reasons to (re)classify their workers as employees.
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A new model is possible #2

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Platform “cooperativism”
According to Scholz and Schneider’s manifesto
n New forms of solidarity aimed at fighting for better
conditions for “cloud workers” and vulnerable workforce.
n Cooperatives are facing copious amounts of challenges on the
level of competition from players like Uber, in terms of public
awareness, allocation of work, as well as wage levels.
n An app with the basic functionality of UberX can be duplicated and
improved upon by independent developers who are working in
tandem with cooperatives.
n Taxi drivers and technologists can coalesce to build an app that
equals or is able to compete with their corporate equivalent.
25

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A movement of interests?
n Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops
without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want
the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
— Frederick Douglass, 1857
n Facilitate organizing by on-demand workers.
n The opportunity to join forces in unions and bargain collectively is pivotal in the
on-demand economy. In the light of the fact that work is distributed on a piece-rate
basis, competition for getting job is inhumane, and the conditions of work are by
definition isolating for citizens.
n A considerable mass of workers can define its sectoral
priorities, a sector-­specific approach may be an effective
way to set standards.
26

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ü Infrastructures are just a shell / packaging
ü We need to build constituencies
ü People matter
ü Act on the side of the demand, rather than on the side
of the offer à generate advocacy
ü Genuine bottom up workers movements +
government intervention and – if needed – law making
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Not to reinvent the wheel

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“Sharing” = “an equitable split in
wealth and responsibility”
§ tighten up international
codes of good practice and
make worldwide firms
respect them;;
§ reduce up to eliminate
discrimination based on
geographical preferences or
rating charts;;
§ avoid and hinder child
labour or forced labour;;
§ prevent “labor brokerage”
from shifting into “social
arbitrage” (Hill, 2015);;
§ make ratings “portable”
across platforms, leading to
a unique “digital identity”;;
§ overcome the exclusivity
clause that ties workers to a
special platform;;
§ ensure better protection to
whom is behind the scene
of the sharing economy.
Workers’ goals (in my opinion)

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Thank you!
(Q&A time)
@_Aloisi
aloisi.antonio@phd.unibocconi.it