tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/gig-economy-19448/articlesGig economy – The Conversation2024-03-08T13:24:16Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253742024-03-08T13:24:16Z2024-03-08T13:24:16ZEdward Webster: South African intellectual, teacher, activist, a man of great energy and integrity, and the life and soul of any party<p>Eddie Webster (82), sociologist and emeritus professor at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, who <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/general-news/2024/2024-03/wits-mourns-the-loss-of-professor-eddie-webster.html">died on 5 March 2024</a>, lived a huge life, applying himself to many different arenas with great energy and insight. </p>
<p>His achievements are quite extraordinary. He was an intellectual, a teacher, a leader, an activist for social change, a builder of institutions, a rugby player and jogger, a man of great energy and integrity, and the life and soul of any party. </p>
<p>As an intellectual and activist he was always independent and critical, and always engaged, whether <a href="https://saftu.org.za/archives/7862">working with trade unions</a> or with South Africa’s new democratic government. It was important to get your hands dirty working for change, he always said, but as important to retain your autonomy and intellectual integrity. This held for the university itself, an institution to which he was wholly committed but at the same time found deeply disappointing when it came to social justice. His life was shaped by these kinds of tensions. </p>
<p>Eddie was one of that <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/graduations/2017/a-life-servicing-many-generations-.html">pioneering</a> generation of scholar-activists at the university, white academics who identified with and supported the black resistance movement, and who saw the world in new ways and pioneered the production of new knowledge: his close colleague, feminist and environmental sociologist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacklyn-cock-201078">Jacklyn Cock</a>, anthropologist and democratic activist <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/david-joseph-webster#:%7E:text=On%201%20May%201989%2C%20South,Mandela%20was%20released%20from%20prison.">David Webster</a> (assassinated in 1989), and distinguished historian Phil Bonner. </p>
<p>Eddie inspired generations of us with his vision and practice of critically engaged scholarship – not only in South Africa, but <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/critical-engagement-with-public-sociology">across the world</a>.</p>
<h2>Independent streak</h2>
<p>In 1986, believing that the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) was out of touch with the majority of South Africans, he drove an investigation called the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2022/2022-10/wits-at-a-time-of-national-crisis-then-and-now.html">Perspectives on Wits</a> with his colleagues. They explored the views of trade unionists and community activists about the university. The university had agreed to fund this investigation. But it was unhappy with the results. These revealed that the institution’s own narrative about its liberal opposition to apartheid was not shared by black South Africans, who saw it as serving white and corporate interests.</p>
<p>A few years earlier, at a time of great repression of unions, he and <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/sources/alumni-news/2017/distinguished-historian-passes-away.html">Phil Bonner</a> had attempted to set up a worker education programme on campus. But the university refused to let it happen. The university’s main funders, such as <a href="https://www.angloamerican.com/">Anglo American</a>, would have been greatly displeased by such a programme – a nice illustration of the point made in the Perspectives document. </p>
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<p>A decade later the indomitable Eddie was able to establish a branch of the Global Labour University at Wits, and bring trade unionists into the heart of the institution. He was not someone to give up easily.</p>
<h2>Insatiable curiosity</h2>
<p>Eddie worked closely with South Africa’s emerging trade union movement in the mid-1970s. At the time black workers were a tightly controlled source of cheap labour for South Africa’s booming industrial economy, and the unions were not recognised legally and suffered severe repression by employers and the state together. Eddie believed that a strong trade union movement democratically controlled by workers would be a powerful force for change.</p>
<p>He contributed to educational programmes for trade unionists, advocating for the recognition of the unions whenever he could. He co-founded the <a href="https://www.southafricanlabourbulletin.org.za/">South African Labour Bulletin</a>, which served as a forum for the interaction between academics and trade unionists, and the Industrial Education Institute with his comrade <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/rick-turner">Rick Turner</a> and others. Turner was assassinated by the apartheid government in 1978. </p>
<p>Eddie went on to support the unions, and <a href="https://mediadon.co.za/2024/03/06/cosatu-mourns-the-passing-of-revolutionary-professor-eddie-webster/">conduct research</a> with and for them, his entire life. Generations of union shop stewards and organisers knew him through his support, teaching and research, and he was widely loved and revered as “comrade Prof”.</p>
<p>As an intellectual Eddie was insatiably curious about the world and how it worked and about new possibilities emerging for progressive change. While the sociology classics were a foundation for his thinking, he kept up to date with new literature and ideas. </p>
<p>He founded Industrial Sociology at Wits and established the Sociology of Work Unit (now the Society, Work and Politics Institute <a href="https://www.swop.org.za/">SWOP</a>) as a research unit in the early 1980s as a way of stimulating labour research and deepening his work with unions. The unit organised and financed research, held seminars and workshops, provided a home for students, and increasingly collaborated with colleagues at other universities and overseas. </p>
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<p>Eddie loved working with others, whether students or colleagues or trade unionists. He knew that ideas arose from wide reading, discussions and interactions, and frequently said “there is no such thing as an original idea”. For its students, staff, colleagues and associates SWOP stood out as a place of vibrant intellectual exchange and curiosity about each other’s work: it was an intellectual home and a place of comradeship and critique that felt unique in the university.</p>
<h2>Academic and teaching legacy</h2>
<p>Eddie was also a great teacher, bringing all of his passion for ideas and his vivid sense of history and change and struggle into the classroom, exciting students about the life of the intellect and the life of struggle. At SWOP he established the first internship programme for black postgraduate students to support and encourage them in what they often experienced as a hostile environment.</p>
<p>Eddie regularly undertook large-scale research projects and recruited numbers of students to participate in field research. This was another learning opportunity, where students immersed themselves in the collective quest for knowledge and began to see themselves as researchers.</p>
<p>In the midst of a multitude of projects, Eddie remained committed to his academic work, publishing a great volume and range of articles and books, and achieving honours and recognition globally.</p>
<p>His first book, <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Cast_in_a_Racial_Mould.html?id=ewPUAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">Cast in a Racial Mould</a>, based on his PhD, provided the intellectual foundation for the new discipline of industrial sociology in South Africa, developing an analysis of changing workplace technology and its impact on trade unionism – specifically the workings of race and class. This provided a material basis for understanding the emergence of the new black mass unionism. </p>
<p>His co-authored book <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444303018">Grounding Globalisation</a> provided a new account of globalisation and trade unions through a comparison of South Africa, Korea and Australia. Global scholars were inspired by it and it <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444303018">won a major prize</a> from the American Sociological Association. </p>
<p>His most recent book, <a href="https://witspress.co.za/page/detail/Recasting-Workers%EF%BF%BD-Power/?k=9781776148820">Recasting Workers’ Power</a>, written with Lynford Dor, returns full cycle to the themes of his first book, exploring the impact of technological change on the nature of work in the gig economy, and drawing lessons from forms of worker organisation and collective action that have been emerging across Africa.</p>
<p>Each of these books extends the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring the cutting edge of social change – in a sense helping us see the future and, indeed, helping to make it.</p>
<h2>A great love for life</h2>
<p>It is impossible to think about Eddie without thinking about <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/luli-callinicos-416446">Luli Callinicos</a>, historian and biographer, and the great love of his life. Indeed, she was the rock on which he built his achievements. I remember with great fondness the Greek Easter feasts shared at their home, and the many other gatherings with family, friends and colleagues.</p>
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<p><a href="https://sociology.berkeley.edu/alumni-manager/michael-burawoy">Michael Burawoy</a>, the great American sociologist and lifelong friend of Eddie, once told me that he had never laughed as much as he did when he was with Eddie and his colleagues from SWOP. Eddie enjoyed people and was deeply generous; he was a great raconteur, he loved being alive. Three weeks ago he was celebrated for his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bezparkrun/">200th Park Run</a> in one of Johannesburg’s large parks. Whatever he did he did fully, heart and soul. He was not bigger than life, he was big with life.</p>
<p>In later years he introduced himself as “a living ancestor”. Now he is simply our ancestor, one who has given us a huge legacy, a living legacy. It is time for us to reflect on his inspiration, burn <a href="http://phytoalchemy.co.za/2018/06/30/imphepho-is-not-a-smudge/">imphepho</a>, slaughter a cow and pour out the wine.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225374/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karl von Holdt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Eddie Webster inspired generations of scholars with his vision and practice of critically engaged scholarship, in South Africa and worldwide.Karl von Holdt, Senior Researcher, Society Work and Politics Institute, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226402024-02-05T16:57:26Z2024-02-05T16:57:26ZFemale food-delivery riders in China were recently falsely accused of selling sex – here’s what it tells us about women in the workplace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573445/original/file-20240205-21-nkjxo6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As if it wasn't tough enough already.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chengdu-sichuan-china-june-23-2019-1467984752">B.Zhou</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Life isn’t easy for the approximately 1 million women working as takeaway delivery riders in China. Though their numbers <a href="https://clb.org.hk/en/content/women-workers-china%E2%80%99s-gig-economy-face-discrimination-lower-pay-unsafe-conditions">appear to be</a> rising as delivering food is convenient for fitting around childcare or retraining for new careers, these women have to live with <a href="https://clb.org.hk/en/content/women-workers-china%E2%80%99s-gig-economy-face-discrimination-lower-pay-unsafe-conditions#:%7E:text=About%2020%20percent%20of%20women%20riders%20are%20paid,riders%20earn%20more%20than%205%2C000%20yuan%20per%20month">gender pay gaps</a> and various other inequities. </p>
<p><a href="https://clb.org.hk/en/content/women-workers-china%E2%80%99s-gig-economy-face-discrimination-lower-pay-unsafe-conditions#:%7E:text=About%2020%20percent%20of%20women%20riders%20are%20paid,riders%20earn%20more%20than%205%2C000%20yuan%20per%20month">These include</a> juggling the workload with their families, sexual harassment and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/26/violence-and-abuse-how-the-gig-economy-fails-women-around-the-world#:%7E:text=Despite%20women%20joining%20the%20gig,widening%20the%20gender%20pay%20gap.">even violence</a>, which might explain why they <a href="https://euagenda.eu/upload/publications/untitled-198213-ea.pdf">tend not</a> to stay in the industry as long as men.</p>
<p>A group of social media influencers greatly increased the pressure on female riders last November by posting a series of memes that <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/china-influencer-apologises-for-viral-photoshoot-as-miniskirt-clad-food-delivery-personnel-sparks-outcry-13431842.html">falsely eroticised</a> them. Various videos and photos, which you can see below, showed fake riders wearing the distinctive black and yellow uniforms used by leading delivery app Meituan, but modified with stockings, short skirts and high heels. </p>
<p>They were also shown with food menus containing much higher prices than usual, implying that women who deliver food to people’s houses are also available as sex workers. </p>
<p><strong>Post examples</strong></p>
<p>This content spread rapidly on Chinese social media, attracting widespread attention. It’s all a world away from the realities of being a female takeaway rider, and has caused a major row that has highlighted wider challenges for women working in China and elsewhere. </p>
<h2>Female riders and sexual connotations</h2>
<p>China is easily the <a href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/food-delivery-app-market/">biggest market</a> for food delivery apps worldwide. Female riders make up <a href="https://www.163.com/dy/article/IL9I4TM50530WJIN.html">around 10%</a> of the workforce, and have always had to endure linguistic anomalies that have inadvertently differentiated and sexualised them. </p>
<p>In Chinese, the term “<a href="https://jamestown.org/program/under-a-covid-19-cloud-chinas-gig-economy-comes-of-age/">delivery brothers</a>” is commonly used to describe riders across the takeaway industry. This indicates <a href="https://www.academypublication.com/issues2/tpls/vol10/01/01.pdf">respectability and diligence</a>, while also implying that this is a job for men. </p>
<p>At the same time, a colloquialism used in an online transaction with a sex worker would be to order a “<a href="https://d-nb.info/1236901592/34">miss delivery</a>”, that is, someone who works door-to-door. This has resulted in a tacit link between female riders and sex work in the popular consciousness. It helps to explain how the Meituan influencer posts gained traction so quickly.</p>
<p>The incident has added another layer of understanding to <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5zprbl/miss-xiaohan-li">my own research</a> into female riders in China (which is yet to be published). In interviews with around 20 of these women, they said that most people appreciate how hard they work, but they endure daily discrimination. </p>
<p>For example, they are more likely to be asked to help throw out rubbish after delivering food to a customer than their male counterparts. Some of the women had also experienced people staring at them in ways that felt unsettling, or asking questions with a pointed gender connotation. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Female delivery rider standing beside her scooter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573444/original/file-20240205-19-944o0p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Female riders have long been stigmatised in China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/nanning-china-circa-november-2018-popular-1283322502">Street VJ</a></span>
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<p>Rumour, stereotypes and misunderstandings seem to have combined to stigmatise food delivery as an occupation for women. This is complicated by <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08948453221131015">cultural factors</a> in parts of Asia, where it is regarded as unsuitable or even shameful for women to take up jobs regarded as “men’s”. Some of my interviewees even told me that they would not tell their parents about their work.</p>
<p>Equally, many of the issues raised by this case go far beyond China. <a href="https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-male-dominated-industries-and-occupations/#:%7E:text=Male%2Ddominated%20industries%20and%20occupations%20may%20reinforce%20harmful%20stereotypes%20and,difficult%20for%20women%20to%20excel.&text=Across%20the%20globe%2C%20women%20working,those%20working%20in%20other%20industries.">Women working</a> in male-dominated occupations have long faced difficulties around stereotypes and harassment. This ranges from female employees being assigned to serve tea and welcome guests, to loaded comments about their appearance, to extreme cases in which the working environment is downright hostile to them. </p>
<p>Women’s work identities are also regularly connected to sex all over the world. Nurse or policewoman costumes are popular requests for strippergrams, for instance. Or in the porn industry, one favourite trope is the sexy secretary. Certainly there are some male equivalents, but these examples all reduce women’s professional identities to tools for sexual gratification.</p>
<h2>Rider protection</h2>
<p>In the case of the Chinese female riders, Meituan can take credit for responding by initiating legal action against four “fake riders”. The company accused them of spreading misleading content and of libellously claiming that food delivery was being used by their riders as cover for sex work. </p>
<p>As public criticism began mounting, the influencers apologised on social media platform Weibo, one of the biggest in China, which then deleted their accounts. It remains to be seen whether Meituan will continue pursuing the influencers or whether it will feel that they have been punished enough. Either way, its intervention represents an important line in the sand to those denigrating takeaway riders, as well as hopefully making the public aware of the misrepresentation and the reality for women in this profession. </p>
<p>Also, however, it draws attention to the fact that delivery riders are not Meituan employees, but sign outsourced labour contracts with third-party firms. Chinese law requires companies to protect employees from harm, but this may not extend to those in the gig economy. Had this not been an issue of potential reputational damage for Meituan, it’s possible the female riders would have lacked employer protection, making them <a href="https://www.jsss.co.id/index.php/jsss/article/view/433">even more vulnerable</a>. </p>
<p>It should be said that China’s regulators have been trying to crack down on malicious content. In January 2023 the Cyberspace Administration of China <a href="http://www.cac.gov.cn/2023-11/17/c_1701809613019558.htm">launched a</a> one-month nationwide campaign aimed at clearing the internet of vulgarity, focusing on seven categories that included stigmatising specific groups. </p>
<p>Chinese regulators have also issued directives to control the creation of online characters and content, urging social media and short-video platforms to intensify their efforts to remove misleading memes. Yet the row over female riders indicates there is still a long way to go. </p>
<p>Being a female rider in a largely male occupation with crude stereotypes comes with a risk of violence and daily abuse. We just have to hope that the fake Meituan memes have not made this worse. These riders need better protection in their work and the regulators clearly need to further clamp down on online misrepresentation and abuse. Female delivery riders should be in exactly the same position as their male counterparts, and there’s a long way to go before that has been achieved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xiaohan Li does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Roughly 1m female delivery riders have had to face down a social media campaign which compounded longstanding false connections with sex work.Xiaohan Li, Doctoral Researcher, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2190392023-12-04T16:46:07Z2023-12-04T16:46:07ZUber’s U-turn over listing black cabs isn’t difficult to understand when you look at its finances<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562971/original/file-20231201-17-tgrcf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fare enough?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-march-23rd-2017-photograph-610479299">Ink Drop</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67555092">Uber is courting</a> its arch enemy, London black cabs, <a href="https://www.uber.com/en-GB/newsroom/uber-to-partner-with-iconic-black-cabs-in-london/#:%7E:text=Uber%20opens%20up%20to%20world,cab%20drivers%20have%20signed%20up.">inviting them</a> to add their services to its app for the first time. Licensed taxis in 33 countries, including France and the US, have already received similar invitations. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/28/23979409/uber-london-black-cab-app-referrals-taxi-ltda">According to Uber</a> this has brought significant new trade to traditional taxis. </p>
<p>It is not clear that black cabs accepting this offer will see much benefit, however – and sure enough their trade association <a href="https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/london-taxi-trade-unanimously-reject-uber-s-black-cab-offering">has put out</a> a statement to say that most will not be participating. Black cabs’ main advantages over apps like Uber are kerb hailing and taxi ranks, which are probably their biggest sources of income. They also have their own <a href="https://www.gett.com/uk/cities/london/">ride-hailing app</a> and already feature on Uber rivals <a href="https://bolt.eu/en-gb/">Bolt</a> and <a href="https://www.free-now.com/uk/">FreeNow</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, appearing on Uber is only likely to emphasise the difference between their prices and those of other taxis on the app, as well as the fact that hackneys have more uncertain fares due to metering. There are also far more Uber cars in London, believed to be in the order <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/uber-jobs-hiring-drivers-tfl-grants-licence-transport-for-london-b991117.html#:%7E:text=The%20ride%20hailing%20app%20has,year%20to%20meet%20surging%20demand.">of 45,000</a> compared with <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/07/09/black-cabs-slump-lowest-level-since-1983-quarter-drivers-quit/.">around 15,000</a> black cabs. And with so few hackneys likely to sign up, there will probably be very poor response times on the app from any that do. </p>
<p>Since Uber arrived in London in 2012, the number of black cabs has fallen <a href="https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2023/11/16/industry-first-measures-announced-to-save-londons-iconic-black-cab-industry">by about 6,000</a>. Uber’s early cavalier approach to rules around insurance and driver ID led to Transport for London withdrawing its licence to operate <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/26/22997671/uber-granted-30-month-license-operate-london-uk">in 2017</a> and then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-loses-licence-london-tfl">again in 2019</a>. Uber <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60885937">won a new licence</a> on appeal in 2022 after agreeing to overhaul its processes to ensure better driver compliance and passenger safety. </p>
<p><strong>Black cabs and the Uber effect</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing the change in black cabs over time" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2022/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2022">Department for Transport</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The other side of the coin</h2>
<p>The real benefit to listing hackneys probably resides with Uber, which will gain more “traffic” through its app. This might also boost demand for the Uber Eats takeaway delivery service and expose more people to adverts on the company’s apps. (In the US, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-growing-advertising-business-1-billion-revenue-2023-2?r=US&IR=T">advertising has become</a> a major source of revenue for Uber.)</p>
<p>Does Uber make money at present? In its 14-year history, profitability has tended to <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/UBER/uber-technologies/net-income#:%7E:text=Uber%20Technologies%20net%20income%20for%20the%20twelve%20months%20ending%20September,a%2092.67%25%20decline%20from%202020.">seem distant</a> at best. There are no accounts available for the UK operation, but US parent company Uber Technologies lost US$9.1 billion (£7.2 billion) <a href="https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2023/Uber-Announces-Results-for-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2022/default.aspx">in 2022</a> after writing down the value of various things on its books, primarily investments. </p>
<p>The ride-hailing business did make an underlying pre-tax profit of US$1.1 billion for the year, and has also been doing well in 2023, though the most recent <a href="https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2023/Uber-Announces-Results-for-Third-Quarter-2023/default.aspx">third-quarter results</a> show that this is still more than offset by the continuing losses at Uber Eats. </p>
<p>It is difficult finding anyone in the takeaway delivery business who makes money. In the US, <a href="https://www.doordash.com/">DoorDash</a> dominates with around <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1235724/market-share-us-food-delivery-companies/">65% market share</a> (compared to Uber’s 23%). It is <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/DASH/doordash/revenue">growing rapidly</a>, and yet <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/DASH/doordash/net-income-loss#:%7E:text=DoorDash%20net%20income%2Floss%20for%20the%20twelve%20months%20ending%20September,a%201.52%25%20increase%20from%202020.">still making losses</a>. Meanwhile, in the UK, Deliveroo is showing <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/760546/deliveroo-income-loss/#:%7E:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20British%20food,a%20loss%20of%20290.1%20million.">substantial losses</a> whilst growth has slowed to <a href="https://corporate.deliveroo.co.uk/investors/">a crawl</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman holding a phone that says DoorDash" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even US market leader DoorDash has a torrid time in the takeaway business.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-delhi-india-february-07-2020-1657002223">Fun Stock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s very tough in takeaway delivery because of the fierce competition and the fact that the restaurants are <a href="https://www.eposnow.com/uk/resources/fast-food-profit-margins/">low-margin already</a>. The scope is limited by what customers will pay for often lukewarm fare. Restaurants can also handle their own deliveries to avoid the apps’ heavy charges. Even among those who use the apps, it’s not uncommon for them to offer marginally better deals to customers who order through their website or call in.</p>
<p>As for ride-hailing, the economics are challenging, to say the least. Drivers’ costs are <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/black-taxi-cab-fares-how-much-london-proposed-rise-tfl-b1121409.html#:%7E:text=The%20minimum%20fare%20would%20remain,The%20consultation%20closes%20today%2FMonday.">rapidly increasing</a> in everything from insurance to vehicles, particularly electric ones, which all have to be passed on to customers. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/280483/national-minimum-wage-in-the-uk/">Rapidly increasing</a> minimum wage levels are driving up prices too. </p>
<p>In London, Uber increased its fares <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/10/uber-raise-prices-drivers-london-ride-hailing-app-lockdown#:%7E:text=Uber%20is%20to%20increase%20its,struggle%20to%20meet%20booming%20demand.">in 2021</a> and <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-uber-fare-price-increase-cost-living-drivers-b1018680.html#:%7E:text=Uber%20is%20to%20put%20up,the%20end%20of%20the%20pandemic.">2022</a>, then introduced “<a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/365531767/Uber-introduces-dynamic-pricing-algorithm-in-London#:%7E:text=Ride%2Dhailing%20app%20Uber%20has,people's%20data%20will%20be%20used.">dynamic prices</a>” in 2023 which will likely result in more increases. Coming at a time when consumers are being squeezed by higher interest rates and inflation, this may not be great for demand. </p>
<p>We’ve already seen <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023">taxi demand</a> diminishing significantly in England in recent years, albeit it’s hard to separate the effect of price rises from increased working from home since the pandemic. </p>
<p><strong>Taxi rides per person per year, England</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing taxi trips per person over time" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data includes trips in taxis and plug-in hybrids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023">Department for Transport</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In big cities, customers’ sensitivity to higher fares is liable to be heightened by the availability of good public transport. On the flip side, the Department for Transport has pointed out that the rise in driver numbers in London from 95,000 to 105,000 between 2022 and 2023 may be an indication that customer demand has been rising in recent months. </p>
<p>Overall, however, it’s difficult to see ride-hailing apps making much money while costs keep rising. And even if this sector did become particularly profitable in future, competition would soon increase. The technology is widely available and drivers have shown they will accept business from anyone offering good rates. All you need to do is persuade customers to download your app.</p>
<h2>Uber and society</h2>
<p>The number of cabs in London <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023">has now doubled</a> since the arrival of Uber over a decade ago. This suggests that many passengers have in effect been lured from public transport and healthy options such as walking and cycling. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uber.com/gb/en/u/ride-journey-to-electric/#:%7E:text=More%20than%203.6m%20Londoners,in%20hybrid%20or%20electric%20vehicles">About half</a> of Uber’s London taxis still seem to be conventional combustion engines, so their popularity will also have increased pollution and carbon emissions. That has to be balanced against the fact that some 50,000 drivers may not otherwise have been employed and that it has made taxis a bit cheaper. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Uber driver looking at his phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good for jobs, bad for carbon emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-delhi-india-february-07-2020-1657002223">PlatinumArt</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With takeaway delivery apps, the environmental impact is less because <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15568318.2022.2066583">many deliveries</a> are on bikes or electric bikes. However, the ready convenience of fast food cannot be good for a nation battling an <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03336/#:%7E:text=The%20Health%20Survey%20for%20England,is%20classified%20as%20'overweight'.">obesity epidemic</a>. </p>
<p>So there you have it. A business that will probably always struggle to make money and isn’t doing the world much good. As Uber turns for support to an industry it has squeezed so much, it will be hard to feel much sympathy if it doesn’t succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Colley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After a decade of brutal competition, hackney drivers are being invited in from the cold.John Colley, Professor of Practice, Associate Dean, Warwick Business School, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2184872023-11-28T16:52:47Z2023-11-28T16:52:47ZDeliveroo judgment shows how gig economy platforms and courts are eroding workers’ rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561837/original/file-20231127-19-ne1m9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C13%2C4460%2C2980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/strasbourg-france-9-april-2022-portrait-2145261161">NeydtStock/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The tide of employment law has continued to turn on the gig economy after the UK Supreme Court’s <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2021-0155.html">recent ruling</a> that Deliveroo drivers are not considered workers but self-employed independent contractors.</p>
<p>This means people working in the gig economy are less likely to be able to access standard UK protections such as paid leave, rest breaks and the right to join a union. While some companies are negotiating private benefits like sick pay with gig workers, this risks fragmenting universal provision of social and employment protections.</p>
<p>The recent ruling was made after an appeal by union the Independent Workers’ of Great Britain (IWGB) to the government’s Central Arbitration Committee decision that Deliveroo did not have to recognise the IWGB as a representative for Deliveroo workers. The Supreme Court judgment referred to the ability of Deliveroo workers to use substitutes to carry out their tasks as a reason for its decision that they are self-employed. Also, that they can reject jobs and work for competitors. In other words, the court is pitting increased flexibility against core employment rights.</p>
<p>This landmark judgment will almost certainly shape outcomes in similar cases for years to come.</p>
<h2>Fighting to gain ‘worker’ status</h2>
<p>At the heart of these legal proceedings is the union’s fight to gain “Limb (b) (worker) status” for Deliveroo drivers. This status was created by two pieces of legislation: the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents">Employment Rights Act 1996</a> and the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/52/contents">Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992</a>.</p>
<p>People making money in the gig economy have looser and more flexible relationships with employers, but they still don’t fit the traditional definition of “self-employment”. </p>
<p>In 2021, for example, <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uber-at-the-supreme-court-who-is-a-worker/">the Supreme Court decided Uber drivers</a> were workers rather than self-employed contractors. This was because – in contrast to the contracts drivers had signed – the actual conduct of Uber resembled that of an employer: setting wage rates, limiting contact between drivers and passengers, and allocating jobs and routes. As such, drivers were “subordinate to and dependent upon” the firm for their income, according to the court. This qualified them for limb (b) worker status.</p>
<p>But understandably, many gig workers still want core social and employment protections such as paid leave, rest breaks, and the right to join a union, to be embedded in law. By finding that Deliveroo riders do not qualify for worker status, the courts have excluded them from these rights. This is despite a recent investigation finding that one in three riders earned <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2021-03-25/deliveroo-riders-earning-as-little-as-2-pounds">less than the national minimum wage</a>, with some working 80-hour weeks just to stay afloat. </p>
<p>“We have for a long time advocated for self-employed workers to be provided with greater protection,” a spokesperson for Deliveroo says of the judgment. They add that the company also provides free insurance and sickness cover, and struck a self-employment recognition agreement <a href="https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/gmb-and-deliveroo-sign-historic-recognition-deal">with the GMB union</a> in 2022.</p>
<h2>A privatised patchwork of protections</h2>
<p>Accident and liability insurance, limited sick pay and lump sum payments to new parents all sound like progress for gig economy workers. But the court’s recent decision, and Deliveroo’s response, reinforces the growing trend for gig economy platforms to take a “pick-and-choose” attitude to social and employment protections.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733322000208">Our research</a> shows digital platforms increasingly have their cake and eat it in this area. These firms often engage labourers as self-employed contractors, rather than workers or employees, while providing a patchwork of privatised social and employment protections. These protections are not backed by employment law, they are simply contractual agreements among business enterprises.</p>
<p>Courier firm Evri (previously Hermes) is something of a pioneer in this regard. In 2018, a Leeds employment tribunal found a group of Hermes couriers to be workers, not independent contractors. This meant they were entitled to the minimum wage, paid leave and other social and employment protections. </p>
<p>The case was brought on the couriers’ behalf by the GMB union. Rather than making further claims against the company or risking a costly appeals process, the GMB and Hermes struck a deal in 2019. <a href="https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/hermes-gmb-groundbreaking-gig-economy-deal">They agreed</a> the self-employed status of Hermes’ (at the time) 15,000 drivers would remain, but with benefits similar (but not equivalent) to worker status. This included algorithmically generated payment top-ups to ensure couriers earn equivalent to the national minimum wage, a system for organising delivery cover to make paid annual leave possible and, subsequently, parental leave and pensions. </p>
<p>“We are proud of the Self Employed Plus deal we agreed with the GMB in 2019,” a spokesperson for Evri says, adding that it provides couriers with stability and flexibility. “Each quarter, we have planned discussions on the deal, and this has resulted in several enhancements including a new opt-in pension scheme, parental leave and a fuel supplement.”</p>
<p>Such agreements help firms retain workers and avoid churn, while protecting them from further legal action over employment status. At the same time, the firm can leverage the tax and flexibility benefits of using self-employed workers. Couriers, however, continue to bear the costs of their employment status <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/01/insulting-how-inadequate-fuel-support-may-force-couriers-out-of-work">in other ways</a>, such as remaining liable for soaring fuel and equipment costs. Some <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/sometimes-feels-like-were-slaves-26118188">drivers have said</a> fuel supplements are not enough.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man in grey uniform unloading boxes from a van, cloudy blue sky, office buildings and tress in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561839/original/file-20231127-19-tpyzgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Couriers have also fought for employment protections under UK law.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/postman-next-van-mail-background-courier-2064351359">FOTOGRIN/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Slowly eroding worker protections</h2>
<p>Deliveroo and Evri are not alone, many platforms offer various forms of privatised social and employment protections. And as this type of platform work <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/gig-economy-workforce-england-and-wales-has-almost-tripled-last-five-years-new-tuc-research">continues to grow</a>, privatised social and employment protection provision could grow along with it. The UK’s universal coverage model could be eroded by a variety of intermediary employment statuses with inconsistent levels of worker protections.</p>
<p>The Conservative party’s proposed employment bill has been subject to <a href="https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1847023/kings-speech-employers-hr-need-know">endless delays</a>, while Labour appears to be <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/30a8a3f1-c5ad-4b85-bb48-7b7de05470f4">wavering on its commitment</a> to reform the employment law system in favour of a presumption of employment status. In the meantime, the protections that workers could once take for granted will continue to come under duress.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Rolf receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/S012532/1), for the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline O'Reilly receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council grant number ES/S012532/1 for the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit). She is also a member of the Labour party.</span></em></p>Experts say gig economy workers are less protected as more companies create benefits packages for self-employed workers.Steve Rolf, ESRC Research Fellow, Digital Futures at Work Research Centre, University of Sussex Business School, University of SussexJacqueline O'Reilly, Co-Director of the ESRC Centre on Digital Futures at Work, University of Sussex Business School, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140512023-10-01T15:12:15Z2023-10-01T15:12:15ZSafety on the line: Drivers who juggle multiple jobs are more likely to take risks on the road<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550774/original/file-20230927-15-dqt564.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C250%2C4581%2C2840&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Drivers that juggle driving with another job were more likely to run red lights and carry weapons, such as knives, for safety reasons. These behaviours pose risks not only to drivers, but also to the public.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Paul Hanaoka/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/safety-on-the-line-drivers-who-juggle-multiple-jobs-are-more-likely-to-take-risks-on-the-road" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/business/uber-lyft-driver-deaths.html">driving profession is unsafe</a>. Taxi drivers and ride-hail drivers, who drive for apps like Uber and Lyft, face many safety risks on the road, from <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">accidents and injuries</a> to <a href="https://www.benefitnews.com/news/why-two-thirds-of-uber-lyft-drivers-didnt-feel-safe-at-work-last-year">harassment</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9048681/fatal-shooting-surrey-tuesday/">violence</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">83 per cent of ride-hail drivers from around the world</a> feel their work is unsafe. As a result, <a href="https://therideshareguy.com/uber-driver-survey/#uber-surveys-drivers">22 per cent of American drivers carry weapons</a> in their vehicles to protect themselves.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170231185212">Our recent research study aimed to examine</a> whether low income, lack of rest and few breaks lead to unsafe behaviour in drivers. We compared the driving behaviours of multi-job professional drivers — those who drive for taxi companies or ride-hail apps and also have another job — with those whose only job is driving. </p>
<p>We found that multi-job professional drivers took the most risks. These drivers were more likely to run red lights and carry weapons, such as knives, for safety reasons. These behaviours pose risks not only to drivers, but also to the public.</p>
<h2>Multiple job holders</h2>
<p>More than <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-28-0001/2020001/article/00011-eng.htm">five per cent of Canadians had several jobs at the same time in 2021</a> — nearly two and a half times higher than in 1976. Most Canadians hold multiple jobs because they <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-222-x/71-222-x2019003-eng.htm">don’t make enough money to cover their expenses</a> with one job alone.</p>
<p>To <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/nyregion/cab-uber-lyft-drivers.html">increase their income</a>, many drivers <a href="https://www.ridester.com/drive-for-uber-and-lyft-at-the-same-time/">work on several driving platforms at once</a> or drive for both taxi and ride-hail companies. Some drivers even work for taxi and ride-hail companies while holding another job. Our research suggests these multi-job professional drivers may face the greatest safety risks. </p>
<p>Multi-job holders deal with <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2023/01/17/working-multiple-jobs-here-are-some-reminders-to-save-your-sanity/?sh=17a6249e7cbc">sleep deprivation, stress and reduced performance</a>. Multi-job professional drivers may also be at greater risk of <a href="https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7072">drowsy driving accidents</a> and may be more likely to deal with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3359319">intoxicated passengers while driving late at night</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man rubs his eyes while sitting behind the steering wheel of a vehicle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Multi-job professional drivers are at greater risk of drowsy driving accidents because they often end up driving at night or after working long hours at another job.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why do these drivers take more risks?</h2>
<p>Multi-job professional drivers face a number of challenges that can lead them to take more risks while on the road. First, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4071315">they often have unsteady income due to working multiple low-paying jobs</a> without the safety nets provided by traditional employment. As a result, these drivers are more likely to take risks to complete fares quickly and earn more money.</p>
<p>Drivers <a href="https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/wages-occupation/10557/ca">often make at</a> or <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-uber-drivers-pay-toronto/">below minimum wage</a> and are paid per fare completed, rather than per hour. This means drivers feel pressured to get to destinations quickly, so they are more likely to make <a href="https://www.cantaxi.ca/wp-content/uploads/Toronto-Taxi-Review-Final-Report.pdf">illegal U-turns</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.02.007">speed</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1557">run yellow lights</a>.</p>
<p>Second, multi-job professional drivers are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105%2FAJPH.2013.301431">work evening shifts and at odd hours</a> due to their complicated schedules. Drivers believe this increases their chances of <a href="https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/driving-night.152420/#post-2274634">picking up unpredictable, intoxicated or dangerous passengers</a>. As a result, multi-job professional drivers are more likely to carry weapons to protect themselves.</p>
<p>Lastly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3109%2F07420528.2016.1167717">multi-job holders sleep less than single job holders</a> because they work longer hours and at times when they would otherwise be resting. Their lack of sleep often results in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1055%2Fs-0029-1237117">decreased attention and awareness</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7072">makes them more prone to accidents</a>, and as our findings suggest, leads to road safety violations.</p>
<h2>Reducing risk to drivers and the public</h2>
<p>Addressing the challenges faced by drivers and mitigating safety risks for both drivers and the public involves several key considerations. </p>
<p><strong>1. Better wages.</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/uber-drivers-report-80-plus-hour-workweeks-and-a-lot-of-waiting-115782">Drivers have reported</a> that they waste half of their shifts waiting for fares; this is time spent not making any money. Government enforcement of <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-2/bill-88#Sched13">hourly minimum wages</a> may be an effective solution to increase driver pay, as long as wages <a href="https://www.epi.org/press/uber-drivers-should-be-paid-for-time-spent-waiting-for-fares-facts-of-being-an-uber-driver-reveal-no-need-to-create-a-third-category-of-worker/">take waiting times into account</a>. </p>
<p>Better wages may discourage drivers from running red lights or taking other risks to get to destinations quickly. It may also give drivers the ability to refuse ride requests that they feel are unsafe.</p>
<p><strong>2. Mandatory paid breaks.</strong> Some drivers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax082">don’t take breaks during or between shifts</a> because they fear missing out on any potential fares or being <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/permits-licences-bylaws/vehicle-for-hire-set-fines/">fined by bylaw officers for leaving their vehicles unattended</a>. In addition to better wages, policymakers should consider the negative impact of these bylaws on the well-being of drivers. Mandatory paid breaks, which signal the importance of rest, may be a start.</p>
<p><strong>3. Greater safety protections.</strong> Many multiple job holders choose to work as ride-hail drivers because these jobs are the ones that are available to them, and they are drawn to the supposed <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/08/17/full-time-lyft-driver-flexibility-choice-act-underpaid-gig-work-pay-workers-rideshare-mike-robinson/">flexibility and choice</a> this work offers. The reality is that drivers are managed by algorithms <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/pringle-uber-doordash-gig-economy-1.5238726">instead of human managers</a> who would normally control things like driver pay and performance, and address safety concerns.</p>
<p>Drivers have reported that they get <a href="https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2635">automated email responses</a> when reporting safety incidents. In cases when passengers have assaulted drivers, drivers are often only told <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520324800/uberland">they will not be matched up with that passenger again</a>. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/driver-app/phone-support/">Uber</a> and <a href="https://www.lyft.com/safety/driver#help-from-real-humans">Lyft</a> now offer drivers access to phone support, drivers have reported that <a href="https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/customer-support-vs-bots.470266/#post-7526680">support representatives rely on the same automated responses</a>. Drivers should have access to more individualized support <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/08/what-people-hate-about-being-managed-by-algorithms-according-to-a-study-of-uber-drivers">so they feel less like they are talking to machines</a>.</p>
<h2>More support needed</h2>
<p>While ride-hail apps have put some safety measures into effect to support drivers, more help is needed. <a href="https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-ca/all/articles/115012926787-Taking-breaks-and-time-limits-in-driver-mode">Lyft has implemented a mandatory break rule</a>, whereby after using the app for 12 hours, drivers are not able to go online for six hours. This is a start to ensure drivers take breaks. However, drivers may just log into another ride-hail app and keep driving.</p>
<p>The Uber app also <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/safety/?uclick_id=2885d49f-8ef1-4ab6-a5b0-901b52af1d71">reminds drivers to stay within the posted speed limit and to take breaks</a>. However, a recent survey from the non-profit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that ride-hail drivers are <a href="https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/smartphone-apps-drive-gig-workers-parents-to-distraction">four times more likely to drive distractedly</a> compared to other drivers, increasing the risk of an accident. Receiving alerts from Uber while driving likely distracts drivers even more.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/uber-drivers-working-conditions-1.6824946">Driver safety must become a greater priority</a> for ride-hail companies. Companies like Uber and Lyft have a long way to go in improving worker safety to ensure both drivers and passengers feel safe on the road.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine E. Connelly receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canada Research Chair program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra D. Lefcoe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies like Uber and Lyft have a long way to go in improving worker safety to ensure both drivers and passengers feel safe on the road.Alexandra D. Lefcoe, PhD Candidate, Management of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources, McMaster UniversityCatherine E. Connelly, Canada Research Chair and Professor of Organizational Behaviour, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2125412023-08-30T12:33:58Z2023-08-30T12:33:58ZGig economy workers set for new protections in Albanese government’s legislation introduced next week<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545462/original/file-20230830-27-ro8iwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C10%2C3366%2C1990&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A suite of protections for gig workers will be contained in legislation to be introduced into parliament by Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke next week.</p>
<p>The government argues the changes balance protections with work flexibility. The new regime will begin from July 1. </p>
<p>The legislation, called the Closing Loopholes Bill, will also include measures on rights for casual workers, stopping wage theft, and preventing companies with enterprise agreements using labour hire to undercut wages. </p>
<p>Business has been campaigning strongly against the new round of industrial relations legislation. </p>
<p>Under the changes, the Fair Work Commission will set minimum standards for “employee-like workers” in the gig economy. These are people who work through a digital labour platform, notably in food delivery, ride share and the care economy. </p>
<p>Businesses will be able to apply to the commission for minimum standards orders tailored to the work performed under them.</p>
<p>The terms the commission will be able to consider for an order include payment, record keeping and insurance. But it would not set minimum standards on overtime rates, rostering, or terms that would change how a worker is engaged. </p>
<p>These workers will also be protected from being unfairly removed from digital labour platforms, and they will be able to ask the commission to resolve disputes. </p>
<p>The government says the changes will allow the commission to respond flexibly to these new, quickly evolving business models.</p>
<p>It stresses they will not affect independent contractors, such as skilled tradespeople, who have a high-degree of autonomy over their work.
Rather, they are aimed at protecting workers who are neither “employees” nor small businesses.</p>
<p>Gig workers are estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands. </p>
<p>Burke said at least 13 gig workers have died on the roads in the last few years..
“We know there is a direct link between low rate of pay and safety: it leads to a situation where workers take risks so they can get more work because they’re struggling to make ends meet,” he said.</p>
<p>“We can’t continue to have a situation where the 21st century technology of the gig platforms comes with 19th century conditions.</p>
<p>"At the moment if you’re classed as an employee you have a whole lot of rights such as sick leave, annual leave and minimum rates of pay. If not, all those rights fall off a cliff. What we want to do is turn the cliff into a ramp.</p>
<p>"We’re not trying to turn people into employees when they don’t want to be employees. But just because someone is working in the gig economy shouldn’t mean that they end up being paid less than they would if they’d been an employee.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A suite of protections for gig workers will be contained in legislation to be introduced into parliament next week, and will also include measures on rights for casual workers and stopping wage theftMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2124182023-08-29T20:59:04Z2023-08-29T20:59:04ZTVO strike highlights the scourge of contract work in public service journalism<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/tvo-strike-highlights-the-scourge-of-contract-work-in-public-service-journalism" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/tvo-producers-content-creators-hit-the-picket-lines-in-first-strike-at-public-broadcaster/article_fd4fd063-21d4-57db-87d8-b6d95dab4b7c.html">Workers at TVO are on strike for the first time in the public broadcaster’s 53-year history</a>. </p>
<p>Amid the din of traffic outside TVO’s offices in Toronto, unionized journalists, producers and education workers hold picket signs declaring: “Fund TVO Like it Matters.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1693730576140747242"}"></div></p>
<p>TVO’s contract with the union, a branch of the Canadian Media Guild, expired in October. After months of negotiations, workers are striking to improve wages and to address precarious employment. </p>
<p>The union says that workers <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/cmg-members-at-tvo-in-legal-strike-position-on-friday-august-18-802546892.html">have received below-inflation wage increases since 2012</a>, including zero increases between 2012-2014. </p>
<p>I spoke to a producer who has worked at TVO’s flagship current affairs show, <em>The Agenda</em>, for 22 years and earns $74,000. </p>
<h2>Wages shrinking</h2>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/DanielKitts/status/1695548363922366865">In a video posted to social media</a>, digital journalist Daniel Kitts, who has worked at TVO for 25 years, says: “For the past 10 years we have tried to… support this organization by seeing our wages shrink basically every year thanks to inflation. And after 10 years, we just can’t do it again.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1695548363922366865"}"></div></p>
<p>Another crucial issue in the dispute is <a href="https://www.hrreporter.com/focus-areas/labour-relations/tvo-workers-go-on-strike-as-contract-issues-continue/378985">temporary and precarious employment</a>, when workers are kept on perpetual contracts with no hope of their position becoming permanent. </p>
<p>TVO workers say these contracts prevent them from doing the kind of rigorous, civic journalism and current affairs programming that serves communities in Ontario. </p>
<p>In a news ecosystem where traditional advertising revenue is down, outlets chase clicks at the whims of platforms like Meta and X and disinformation circulates widely, the need for quality, fact-based public affairs programming is particularly urgent.</p>
<h2>The risks of precarious work</h2>
<p>In their <a href="https://pepso.ca/documents/precarity-penalty.pdf">2015 study</a> of precarious employment in southern Ontario, researchers found it has collective, cumulative effects on communities in what they call a precarity penalty. </p>
<p>People in precarious employment earn low incomes, face intermittent and insecure work, lack access to benefits and training and endure stress, social isolation and poor mental health. </p>
<p>Such pressures on individual lives shapes people’s participation in community life, and precarity becomes a burden borne by society at large. </p>
<p>Striking TVO workers are drawing attention to journalism’s precarity penalty: the consequences for robust journalism when the work of producing journalism is made precarious.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in jeans, a T-shirt and a ball cap hands a flyer to a passerby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545339/original/file-20230829-28-ewe8xx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A striking TVO employee hands out flyers on the picket line outside of TVO offices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At issue at TVO is funding. <a href="https://tvo.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2021-22-TVO-ANNUAL-REPORT-ENG.pdf">TVO is funded</a> via a provincial Crown Corporation and reports to the Ministry of Education. It receives a base operating grant of $38.3 million annually, but funding hasn’t increased as costs and inflation have risen.</p>
<p>Rank-and-file workers are feeling the squeeze as <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/tvo-management-gets-double-digit-pay-increases-while-asking-unionized-employees-to-take-another-pay-cut-890131220.html">senior managers receive above-inflation raises</a>. <em>The Agenda</em> host Steve Paikin told CBC Ottawa that when he joined TVO 30 years ago, there were 650 people working at TVO. Now there are about 250. “I’m really nervous about the place being squeezed any further,” he said.</p>
<h2>TVO’s contract workers</h2>
<p><a href="https://tvo.me/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Multi-Year-Plan-2021-2024-AODA-English.pdf">The government wants to see TVO increase “self-generated revenue,</a>” including donations and sponsorships. But precarious employment is baked into this model, TVO union branch president Meredith Martin told me. </p>
<p>As money comes in for specific projects, workers are hired on contract. When the project ends, so do the contracts. No one is made permanent in such an unstable funding environment. </p>
<p>TVO wants the union to give up language that enables workers on contract for two years to become full-time employees, eligible for benefits and other protections. Martin has seen first-hand the problems the contract model brings to the workplace: high staff turnover, low morale and an inability for workers to invest in quality work. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A TVO sign." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545337/original/file-20230829-23-n8tqly.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">TVO signage is seen at Canada Square in Toronto. Almost 96 per cent of CMG’s members at TVO rejected an offer from the employer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In journalism, precarity is manifold. Insecure work prevents people from establishing themselves in an organization and accessing career supports. Precariously employed journalists can’t contribute meaningfully to teams, speak out against sexism and racism at work or enjoy professional autonomy. </p>
<p>Employment insecurity is linked to industrial precariousness, where technological and economic changes spur management to shrink journalists’ wages and job security. As profits decline and labour forces contract, fewer journalists are in secure positions and increasing numbers of workers are on contract or freelance.</p>
<h2>The impact on diverse communities</h2>
<p><a href="https://caj.ca/programs/diversity-survey/">Two successive annual surveys</a> by the Canadian Association of Journalists show that women, racialized, Indigenous, queer and trans journalists are concentrated in the most precarious positions, making it difficult to meaningfully diversify journalism in Canada. </p>
<p>Journalists, researchers and advocates have long been calling for increased racial and gender diversity in journalism, demanding that newsrooms represent the communities they report on. Precarity is an impediment to such diversity. </p>
<p>Public, non-profit outlets like TVO can and should become model employers, committed to producing journalism in the public interest and providing workers, particularly those from diverse communities, with the sustainable jobs necessary to do so. (The CBC is also <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/05/09/CBC-Temp-Workers/">under fire</a> for maintaining a permanent underclass of temporary workers). </p>
<p>TVO workers are part of a broader movement to protect journalism via unionization. Since 2015, <a href="https://culturalworkersorganize.org/digital-media-organizing-timeline/">more than 150 newsrooms</a> in Canada and the United States have organized unions.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1483827428145381388"}"></div></p>
<p>In my review of their contracts, I find many examples of language that converts contract workers into full-time permanent workers after a set period, usually 12 months. This type of language is becoming the industry standard, negotiated by worker-led bargaining committees to gain some stability in an unstable industry. </p>
<p>Although work in journalism has never been a safe bet, it’s now rife with deepening uncertainty. In this context, TVO workers’ strike for material security to do work in the public interest matters more than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Cohen has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Although work in journalism has never been a safe bet, it’s now rife with deepening uncertainty. The TVO strike aimed at job security is a matter of public interest.Nicole Cohen, Associate Professor, Communication, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2103652023-07-30T12:39:26Z2023-07-30T12:39:26ZThe shift from owning to renting goods is ushering in a new era of consumerism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539859/original/file-20230727-23-i3u7pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C29%2C4963%2C3294&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Instead of owning physical copies of DVDs or CDs, for example, people subscribe to streaming services, allowing them to access a wide range of products without the burden of traditional ownership.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-shift-from-owning-to-renting-goods-is-ushering-in-a-new-era-of-consumerism" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Today’s consumer landscape is witnessing a pivotal shift away from <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/sharingeconomy_032017final.pdf">traditional ownership towards an access-based model</a>. Rather than outright owning goods and services, people prefer to simply have access to them.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/666376">Access-based consumption</a> means engaging in transactions where ownership doesn’t change hands. Instead of owning physical copies of DVDs or CDs, for example, people subscribe to streaming services. Consumers are able to access a wide range of products without the burden that comes with traditional ownership.</p>
<p>This approach is closely associated with the <a href="https://rdcu.be/dhP0M">sharing economy</a>, which encourages collaborative consumption. This involves sharing, swapping and renting resources, eliminating the need for personal ownership of these goods.</p>
<p>The term “sharing economy” came into use after the 2007 financial crisis as people sought alternative ways to access goods and services, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125209">started gaining more widespread usage in 2010 and 2011</a>.</p>
<p>The sharing economy is growing exponentially. It’s projected to <a href="https://www.pwc.com/hu/en/kiadvanyok/assets/pdf/sharing-economy-en.pdf">reach a market volume of $335 billion by 2025</a>. This indicates that the way we consume goods and services has — and continues to — evolve significantly.</p>
<h2>A response to global challenges</h2>
<p>At a time filled with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/5c561274-en">economic instability driven by a wealth of factors</a>, including the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, consumers continue to shift their consumption habits to align with these economic shocks. </p>
<p>The access-based and sharing economy has emerged as a powerful response to these global challenges, offering a flexible, cost-effective and more sustainable alternative to the long-standing paradigm of ownership.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A phone screen displaying music streaming apps" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539851/original/file-20230727-19-rg1895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Music streaming services allow people to access a wide variety of music without actually owning any physical copies of CDs or records.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jenny Kane)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The rise of access-based consumption doesn’t appear to be a passing phase. Rather, it appears to be an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.021">enduring form of consumption that is emerging in various industries</a>, including transportation, fashion and toys.</p>
<p>Navigating the current economic landscape requires a solid grasp of these evolving paradigms. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2020.06.007">The rise of the access-based and sharing economy is more than a trend towards cost saving</a>; it’s about constructing a sturdier, sustainable consumption model.</p>
<h2>What is driving the shift</h2>
<p>The growth of access-based consumption is driven by two main things. First, access-based consumption is predicated on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702272">affordability, value and convenience it offers to consumers</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/666376">Participation in car-sharing services</a>, such as Zipcar and Turo, are primarily driven by these factors. </p>
<p>Secondly, <a href="https://fashionandtextiles.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40691-018-0139-z">access-based consumption provides environmental and social benefits</a> by encouraging consumers to share and increasing the usage of a particular good. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/sep/20/the-rise-of-fashion-rental-scarlett-conlon">In the fashion industry</a>, rental services allow consumers to enjoy a variety of choices and gain access to luxury goods they may not otherwise be able to purchase. These services are also beneficial for those experiencing body changes, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/maternity-wear-rental-sprout-collection-1.5058635">like pregnant women</a>, as clothing can be shared to reduce careless disposal.</p>
<p>Access-based consumption means there is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/666376">time-related aspect to the transaction</a>, either in the form of duration of access or usage. Even so, this doesn’t stop consumers from developing a sense of perceived ownership over a good or service. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two small cars parked on the street outside a business with a Zipcar logo posted in the window" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539845/original/file-20230727-29-2s7ozv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The growth of ride-sharing services like Zipcar has largely been attributed to the affordability, value and convenience they provide to consumers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-a-garden-can-also-bloom-eco-resilient-cross-cultural-food-sovereign-communities-121543">consumers may develop a sense of pride, attachment and responsibility towards a shared community garden</a>. They may gain social value from participating in this experience. </p>
<p>This social component also extends to peer-to-peer accommodation services, like Airbnb. One study found that the primary reasons American travellers used such a service included <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_59">sustainability and connecting with community</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, while service providers tout intrinsic motivations, such as promoting sustainability and building a community, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702272">users often have extrinsic factors such as affordability and convenience on top of their minds</a>.</p>
<h2>What does this mean for businesses?</h2>
<p>Businesses need to reimagine traditional profit strategies, resource utilization, societal impacts and community relationships to better adapt to this shift in the economic paradigm.</p>
<p><strong>Rethink profit:</strong> In an access-based economy, businesses need to shift their profit strategies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/666376">from selling products to facilitating access</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001">This calls for innovative approaches to monetizing services</a>, such as tiered subscriptions, dynamic pricing or pay-per-use approaches, creating multiple revenue streams while fulfilling diverse consumer needs.</p>
<p><strong>Maximizing technological resources:</strong> The role of technology is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.051">central in orchestrating transactions, maintaining inventory and ensuring a seamless user experience</a>. In an access-based environment, businesses must harness tech advancements like AI, data analytics and the <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/internet-of-things-what-is-explained-iot">Internet of Things</a> to streamline operations. Investing in digital infrastructure is critical to success in the access-based economy.</p>
<p><strong>Beyond revenue:</strong> Profit isn’t the sole aim anymore. The access-based economy <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-019-00255-5">focuses on sustainable practices and societal impact</a>. Businesses can position themselves as conscious brands by promoting resource optimization and contributing to societal and communal welfare. This shift towards <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2012.661138">corporate social responsibility not only elevates a brand’s image</a>, but also resonates with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-02-2022-0029">the growing consumer demand for ethical consumption</a>.</p>
<p><strong>The power of trust:</strong> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123724">Trust is one of the cornerstones of the access-based economy</a>. Consumers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1667">need the assurance of safety, quality and reliability before partaking in sharing transactions</a>. Businesses can foster trust by implementing transparent practices, rigorous quality checks and responsive customer service.</p>
<h2>The future of consumerism</h2>
<p>While ownership does offer consumers unique benefits, including <a href="https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/ownership-self-esteem-prosocial-behavior">enhanced autonomy</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-09-2014-1161">a stronger sense of consumer identity</a>, it’s clear we are shifting away from this model.</p>
<p>As consumers and businesses navigate and adapt to this new landscape, we are not just witnessing a change in how we consume, but in how we <a href="https://rdcu.be/dhP6R">perceive value</a>, community and our roles within it. </p>
<p>This dynamic shift towards an access-based model, fuelled by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-01-2020-0007">intrinsic and extrinsic motivations</a>, is driven by the idea of a shared future built on access to goods and services, improved efficiency and collective value.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210365/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These days people prefer to simply have access to goods and services, rather than outright owning them. But what does this mean for the future of consumerism?Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Professor and Associate Dean of Engagement & Inclusion, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityOmar H. Fares, Lecturer in the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2075342023-06-12T14:31:11Z2023-06-12T14:31:11ZGig economy workers are to get better EU protections – creating an awkward choice for Rishi Sunak<p>Workers for online operators like Deliveroo and Uber are in line for sweeping new rights and protections within the EU after ministers met in Luxembourg to thrash out proposals. The <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/bg/press/press-releases/2023/06/12/rights-for-platform-workers-council-agrees-its-position/">resulting agreement</a> on proposed rights for platform workers has huge implications for the gig economy. It also puts pressure on the UK to follow suit. </p>
<p>Using apps on our phones to purchase goods and services has become second nature for many of us – particularly on the back of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00027642211066027">COVID lockdowns</a>. Working in the gig economy is another story, however. It does offer workers flexibility in terms of when and how much they work, but <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/0950017018785616">variations in</a> the amount of work available can make it difficult to earn a steady wage. </p>
<p>It can also be dehumanising having your working day organised and monitored <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1748-8583.12258?casa_token=C4e4SlFob5wAAAAA:XhGX9sdaFF5jkfl3ErnaRH1hmm6uhhoKr2DR1cTDVFP75zEJuhOJNdHjF__f6A9DuOsD2FJzbhBJlY8">by algorithms</a>. And workers are <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/cllpj37&div=34&g_sent=1&casa_token=QJicQOS7Dr0AAAAA:-7XYdZ0QYjK7ePgamA0Hbk66GZ_BKP7yAGPYtDfhyIG40DEiQF53ZZ0HcYIJuiWKTTTy8R-t9A&collection=journals">often categorised</a> by these online platforms as self-employed rather than employees. This has implications for things like sick pay, holiday pay, trade union rights and health and safety protections. </p>
<h2>The proposals</h2>
<p>The EU’s proposed <a href="https://www.project-disco.org/european-union/platform-workers-explain-how-new-eu-rules-would-impact-millions-of-jobs/">platform work directive</a>, which was originally published in 2021, is designed to address these kinds of issues. It will introduce a legal presumption that online platforms will be deemed to be employers, so long as certain criteria are met. </p>
<p>In response to the challenges of being managed by algorithm, the directive aims to give workers more information on why decisions which affect their work are made. They will also receive a new right to challenge such decisions – regardless of whether they are deemed to be an employee or self-employed.</p>
<p>Another important part of the EU plans is to provide greater opportunities for gig workers to communicate with each other to organise, for example through trade unions. One element is that online platforms will be required to consult with workers and their representatives on major decisions. There will also be a duty on platforms to provide key information to authorities in member states in order to help to enforce workers’ rights and protections.</p>
<p>National governments within the bloc had been struggling to reach an agreement. Spain, for example, has championed a tougher approach, <a href="https://english.elpais.com/economy_and_business/2021-05-12/spain-approves-landmark-law-recognizing-food-delivery-riders-as-employees.html">having introduced</a> protections at national level in 2021. </p>
<p>Other countries such as France have been inclined to be more cautious, particularly around treating platform workers as presumed employees. Similarly, a group of leading CEOs recently wrote a letter <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2588daae-fcd2-46b7-a9db-7cfa81635156">to the Financial Times</a> that gave short shrift to the directive’s explicit desire to retain the benefits of gig work: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[The] directive focuses almost exclusively on who is an employee and who is not and does little to improve the rights of the self-employed. Ministers should take the time to get this right and not sacrifice the chance to improve the situation for the sake of a quick agreement.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ministerial meeting at the European Council, which began on Monday June 12, was on the back of renewed efforts by current EU Council president Sweden to find agreement through a compromise text. Now that an agreement has been reached, the council will begin negotiations with the European parliament that could translate into new legal protections as soon as this year. Exactly what laws may be introduced will depend on the fine details of the agreed compromise text.</p>
<h2>The UK dimension</h2>
<p>The gig economy has also grown considerably <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-gig-economy-a-critical-introduction--9781509536351">in the UK</a> in recent years, with workers facing <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJSSP-08-2020-0400/full/html?casa_token=9PlUcaFStMoAAAAA:3kEnXaqe5xsYNNLWDQlQDBC2pImrsqQrfbY6i6FeH_dJ_-w-5mQCrviSudyJBdE8dwRlXzTzfFY-3XhLv51dDeyGqI3WroBmiHYDOGUXAfr1nl8JJs8F">similar issues</a> to those in the EU. The UK government may not be part of the current discussions taking place between EU leaders, but that doesn’t mean it can sit out the debate on extending protections to platform workers. </p>
<p>The UK has previously made efforts to protect gig workers, for example through the commissioning of the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627671/good-work-taylor-review-modern-working-practices-rg.pdf">Taylor review</a> of modern working practices. But these have <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ilj/article-abstract/47/1/46/4829347?login=false">come under criticism</a> for falling short of what is needed. </p>
<p>Now that EU ministers have reached an agreement, it is likely that governments across the bloc will adopt tougher protections for gig workers in the near future. This could very well mean that a delivery rider in London may soon be questioning why their counterpart in Lisbon has better rights and protections.</p>
<p>There could be a danger of this becoming a classic example of Brexit resulting in poorer outcomes for workers in the UK. Or if the UK government tries to adopt similar protections, it will be accused by free-market Brexiteers of simply following the EU agenda. With a general election barely a year away, it’s the sort of debate that the UK government might prefer to avoid, but doing so will be very difficult.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Montgomery has conducted research on the gig economy which has been funded by the Swiss Network for
International Studies.</span></em></p>Now that EU ministers have reached agreement on the platform work directive, the big question is whether the UK will follow suit.Tom Montgomery, Lecturer in Work and Organisations, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053092023-05-09T16:27:30Z2023-05-09T16:27:30ZI’ve worked in precarious jobs for more than 10 years – here’s what unions should do to support migrant workers<p>As I rush to clean everything before the sink overfills with plates and pans, I am confronted, yet again, with the brutality of my working conditions. My feet and legs throb and ache from sole to calf; I can feel the onset of cramps. But the chef won’t be able to work unless I clean these pans.</p>
<p>The clatter of plates and screaming of orders around me have become a constant, thumping backdrop. The only noise I pay attention to is the “beep” of the service elevator next to me – its door opens to reveal an explosion of leftovers, hastily thrown in by the upstairs waiters amid dirty napkins and cutlery.</p>
<p>To me, the beep has come to resemble a form of torture: every new sound signals more pressure, less space, more to catch up on. I haven’t taken a break since I started working 11 hours ago. There are at least three more hours to go.</p>
<p>The cost of the uneaten food is more than I make each day. I wonder if the customers have considered the pain that goes into the food they enjoy upstairs, just above our heads.</p>
<h2>Intensely precarious working conditions</h2>
<p>As a migrant worker since my arrival to the UK in 2011 and as a trade union organiser since 2013, I was already aware of the difficulties facing migrant workers who seek to challenge exploitation, both individually and collectively. To further understand <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/wusa.12346">these barriers</a>, I took on (and <a href="https://theses.gla.ac.uk/82275/">analysed</a>) jobs in a number of different precarious workplaces in Glasgow between 2017 and 2021, including as a kitchen porter in the Mediterranean restaurant in central Glasgow described above.</p>
<p>While some politicians and commentators rage against UK immigration levels, the fact that its economy does not simply rely on migrant labour but is, in my view, <a href="https://interregnum.live/2018/01/22/the-crack-in-the-edifice-modern-capitalism-migrant-workers-and-social-movements/">purposely designed to attract and exploit it</a>, is rarely mentioned. Ever since the days of empire, the UK has recruited migrant workers to staff the most precarious and labour-intensive occupations, in line with the demands of the economy. Regardless of whether they are from former colonies, European, documented or undocumented, migrants form an inseparable part of the nation’s economic infrastructure.</p>
<p>Making up about <a href="https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-labour-market-an-overview/">18% of the UK’s total labour force</a>, migrant workers are overrepresented in sectors such as factories, food manufacturing, hospitality and logistics. These are also the occupations that are the most likely to be characterised by intensely precarious working conditions, such as agency work or zero-hours contracts, punitive reductions of hours, unsociable shifts, and a lack of trade union representation.</p>
<p>On top of precarious employment, migrant workers face other barriers that are connected to the UK’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0261018320980653">hostile environment policies</a>, such as a lack of access to benefits. This means that the lives of many migrant workers in the UK are in a state of constant insecurity with regard to employment, income, accommodation and even food.</p>
<p>Whether their job is underpinned by a zero-hours contract, an online platform, an employment agency, or more “informal” and unregulated working arrangements, the overarching experience is one of intense insecurity and individualisation.</p>
<p>In these precarious workplaces, the pressure to perform is omnipresent. Watching colleagues being arbitrarily dismissed due to a lack of (over)exertion or for making trivial mistakes makes you realise that you are alone, exposed and vulnerable to the demands of your employer. Your relationships with your superiors and your personal abilities to push yourself are the only substitutes for contractual safety.</p>
<h2>‘I’ve only seen a union once’</h2>
<p>This isolation is worsened by the near-total non-existence of unions in precarious workplaces, despite <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/standing-migrant-workers-everywhere">official pronouncements</a> that claim to support migrant workers. Since 2011, I have worked in more than 20 different locations in the hospitality, manufacturing and logistics sectors – I have only seen a union once, and it was oriented towards the permanent staff.</p>
<p>Many migrants I met weren’t even sure whether they could join unions as foreigners. And in every workplace I entered, the word “strike” was only uttered as a joke. Then, they dismissed the prospect. In a life saturated by insecurity, thinking of change is a luxury.</p>
<p>This is not to say that <a href="https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/gmb-pressure-forces-home-office-u-turn-migrant-indefinite-leave">unions haven’t made attempts</a>. But, due to the transient and insecure nature of precarious employment, the stability and trust between colleagues and between workers and union organisers that is required to build meaningful campaigns are simply not there.</p>
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<p>Instead, a vicious cycle is created where precarious conditions breed precarious mindsets – an acceptance of insecure and low pay, poor working conditions and abuse. Indeed, <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/91404/3/forde_mackenzie_ciupijus_and_alberti.pdf">it has been argued</a> that such working conditions act as forces of socialisation: they teach migrant workers what to expect and how to conduct themselves.</p>
<p>This, when combined with <a href="https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2010/anderson_work_employment_society_2010/">migration controls</a> such as being dependent on an employer to remain in the country, lack of access to information and language barriers, renders migrant workers even more vulnerable and exploitable.</p>
<h2>A new breed of social centre</h2>
<p>I believe a crucial element of how unions and social movements can counteract the debilitating effects of precarity is to encourage and materially support the creation of new <a href="https://roarmag.org/essays/amazon-neoliberal-worker/">social centres</a> within neighbourhoods. This is already happening, both formally and informally, in <a href="https://iwc-cti.ca/about-us/">North America</a> and <a href="https://en.squat.net/2021/04/06/athens-zizania-new-squatted-social-center-in-victoria/">parts of Europe</a>, where social movements have set up physical community spaces that allow migrant and other precarious populations to congregate and organise.</p>
<p>These are not top-down initiatives but horizontal structures managed by workers with an understanding of the particularities associated with being an immigrant. But they need to be connected to cross-workplace organising structures, such as the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain’s <a href="https://iwgb.org.uk/en/page/clb/">Couriers and Logistics Branch</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/im-always-delivering-food-while-hungry-how-undocumented-migrants-find-work-as-substitute-couriers-in-the-uk-201695">'I’m always delivering food while hungry': how undocumented migrants find work as substitute couriers in the UK</a>
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<p>The value of such spaces is to allow workers who experience high degrees of transience (such as couriers or agency workers) to connect with each other, and with unions, in order to collectively organise to challenge their labour conditions.</p>
<p>This new breed of social centre could also address the interrelated factors that maintain migrant precarity, such as migration restrictions and housing. They would allow migrant workers to access a safe, supportive space outside of the workplace in their own time. Above all, they would be physical examples that grassroots support is there – and that they are not alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Panos Theodoropoulos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since 2011, I’ve worked in more than 20 precarious workplaces in hospitality, manufacturing and logistics – and I have only seen a union once.Panos Theodoropoulos, Teaching Fellow of Work, Employment, Management and Organisation, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049842023-05-05T12:17:13Z2023-05-05T12:17:13ZThe exploitation of Hollywood’s writers is just another symptom of digital feudalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524444/original/file-20230504-17-q7bqzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=112%2C22%2C4865%2C3285&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Striking workers picket outside of Warner Bros. Studios on the second day of the Hollywood writers strike on May 3, 2023, in Burbank, Calif.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-picket-outside-of-warner-bros-studios-on-the-second-news-photo/1252595408?adppopup=true">David McNew/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The current Hollywood writers strike has drawn international attention to the plight of TV and film writers <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1108/9781839827686">in the streaming era</a>. </p>
<p>Much has been made of television’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/welcome-to-tvs-second-golden-age/">golden age</a>, during which streaming platforms have offered audiences an abundance of well-written, highly produced television shows, often called “<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/prestige-tv-signs-youre-watching.html">prestige TV</a>.” </p>
<p>Whereas older television shows tended to be formulaic sitcoms or crime dramas, newer shows more closely mimic <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/serial-fiction-part-1/">the serialized novels of the 19th century</a>, with cliff-hangers that encourage <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-tv-bingeings-bad-rap-74399">binge-watching</a>. </p>
<p>But not everyone in the industry has equally reaped the rewards. While there are certainly more writing jobs to go around, these roles <a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-amptp-contract-strike-deadline-1235599161/">often pay less and place writers on short-order contracts</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the unyielding demand for content, as more and more platforms compete for subscriptions, has trapped writers in what I call “<a href="https://books.emeraldinsight.com/book/detail/digital-feudalism/?k=9781804557693">digital feudalism</a>.” </p>
<h2>Echoes from medieval Europe</h2>
<p>I use the phrase digital feudalism because today’s version of capitalism increasingly mirrors the transition from feudalism to capitalism in 16th-century England.</p>
<p>Beginning in the 16th century, the English Parliament passed <a href="https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-enclosure-acts/">a number of enclosure acts</a>, which abolished common land and defined it as private property that the government reallocated to the elites.</p>
<p>These laws kicked peasants, <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Serf/">known as serfs</a>, off the land where they had lived and worked for generations. Many of them ended up heading to cities in order to find work. The ensuing oversupply of workers drove down wages, <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01c.htm">and many ex-serfs couldn’t find jobs or housing</a>, becoming vagabonds.</p>
<p>In other words, serfs lost stability in their everyday lives as they were thrust into a new economic system.</p>
<p>Precarity, debt and a lack of stability <a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2023/05/the-age-of-the-crisis-of-work-quiet-quitting-great-resignation/">are again the dominant themes</a> in today’s digital economy. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/05/what-gig-economy-workers/">The gig economy</a>, in which people can juggle two or three part-time roles to make ends meet, is largely to blame. These jobs <a href="https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-gargantuan-gig-swindle-albert">usually don’t offer</a> full-time benefits, livable wages or job security. The roles – whether they’re working as an Uber driver, delivering food for DoorDash or cleaning homes through Task Rabbit – are often managed through digital platforms owned by powerful corporations that give their workers a pittance in exchange for their labor.</p>
<h2>The serfs of Hollywood</h2>
<p>So, why are TV writers feeling the pinch of digital feudalism if this is the golden age of television? </p>
<p>Streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max brought about the golden age. <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2023/03/peak-tv-over-golden-age-hbo-streaming.html">But the gold prospecting has slowed</a>, as the number of <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/prestige-tv-signs-youre-watching.html">prestige TV shows</a> seems to have hit a saturation point. </p>
<p>Starting in the 2010s, streaming platforms began hiring more and more writers. To lure customers, platforms needed quality content – otherwise, viewers wouldn’t continue paying <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/is-streaming-actually-cheaper-than-cable-we-do-the-math/">the US$8 to $15 monthly cost</a> of a subscription.</p>
<p>Platforms couldn’t market their content like network sitcoms, so they had to constantly develop new ideas for shows. Large stables of creative writers ended up forming the core of studio strategy.</p>
<p>Yet, as TV writers <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/notes-on-hollywood/why-are-tv-writers-so-miserable">flocked to Los Angeles</a> and New York City, entertainment companies took a page from the gig economy playbook in ways that worked against writers’ livelihoods.</p>
<p>The contracts were short and <a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-amptp-contract-strike-deadline-1235599161/">the pay lower</a>. The formats of streaming shows – more one-off miniseries rather than sitcoms that could run for as long as a decade – rarely guaranteed work for any lengthy period of time.</p>
<p>Furthermore, streaming shows tend to have fewer episodes per season, with larger gaps between seasons, known as “<a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-amptp-contract-strike-deadline-1235599161/">short order</a>.” An eight-episode season of a popular show that has a two-year gap between seasons leaves TV writers scrambling to figure out ways to pay the bills in between seasons.</p>
<p>Then came COVID-19. While people were stuck at home binge-watching TV, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/03/10/how-pandemic-changed-tv-and-how-much-last/6826073002/">it became difficult to produce television</a>. There was a major backlog in TV production because of the difficulties shooting TV shows in studios while complying with COVID-19 health regulations. </p>
<p>This created <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/03/10/how-pandemic-changed-tv-and-how-much-last/6826073002/">a major slowdown in TV production</a>. At the height of the pandemic, TV studios closed to limit the number of people inside. With the slowdown of production, there wasn’t the demand for writers. As a result, many of the TV writers who had recently moved to Log Angeles and other big cities with high costs of living were faced with challenges finding jobs.</p>
<h2>Core demands</h2>
<p>Writers want to fix this by raising their minimum wage; they want writers for streaming platforms to receive the same royalties that theatrical film writers get; and they want to end <a href="https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/mini-rooms-writers-tv-pilot-series-orders-1235061733/">the practice of mini rooms</a>, where small groups of writers hash out scripts but often receive less compensation for a series that may not even get ordered.</p>
<p>Another key demand is to limit the use of artificial intelligence in television production. </p>
<p>Writers fear that studios will use AI to hire workers, select which shows to produce and, in the worst-case scenario, replace writers altogether. Interestingly, limits on AI have been the one point of contention that <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/05/wga-strike-chris-keyser-interview-failed-negotiations-amptp-ai-1235354566/">studios have been unwilling to even discuss</a>.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see whether the writers will be able to claw back some of the financial security that’s vanished across many industries, or if the larger economic forces that have powered the gig economy will work in studio executives’ favor.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Arditi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The writers strike lays bare all the ills of working on one of the lowest rungs of the entertainment industry.David Arditi, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at ArlingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2016952023-05-04T16:13:05Z2023-05-04T16:13:05Z‘I’m always delivering food while hungry’: how undocumented migrants find work as substitute couriers in the UK<p>Luca* had not been working long as an online food courier when we met him on a cold winter’s day in a square in the city centre. This was where many food couriers waited for orders to “drop” into their mobile phones.</p>
<p>The 42-year-old husband and father of one was a recently arrived migrant but <a href="https://www.jcwi.org.uk/who-are-the-uks-undocumented-population">not qualified to work in the UK</a>. Luca spoke little English, rented a room with three other people, and earned some money by informally renting food delivery accounts from other couriers as a “substitute” rider. He said this was his first chance of regular paid work since arriving in the UK, adding:</p>
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<p>In this square, I could point you to who is renting an account from other people because they cannot register using their own details.</p>
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<p>Opportunities to rent someone else’s official account can arise through word of mouth, family members, social media and other community websites. Mario, another undocumented migrant in his late 20s, explained that he would constantly browse different social media platforms to identify new courier accounts to rent, in case his existing ones suddenly became inoperable:</p>
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<p>The way I started working was to search on Facebook for ads offering accounts – it’s pretty impressive how these people have all this set up. They asked me if I needed a bike, gear and helmet for an extra fee.</p>
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<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/irel.12320">research</a> into food couriers in one English city highlights the daily challenges facing undocumented migrant workers in this sector. Despite past <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/deliveroo-and-uber-eats-takeaway-riders-rent-jobs-to-illegal-immigrants-ml36gvp93">news reports</a> highlighting this issue, it was not hard to find and talk to such people about their experiences.</p>
<p>During 2021 and 2022, we got to know seven undocumented migrants who worked as food delivery riders by renting accounts from other riders. We also interviewed 25 documented account holders, of whom three rented their accounts to undocumented couriers for anything from a few hours to weeks at a time.</p>
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<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
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<p>This is by no means a representative sample – undocumented riders represent a tiny fraction of the UK’s rapidly expanding food courier population. But their experiences are important to understand. Often desperate to secure waged work but with no options for lawful employment, they are willing to accept pay standards well below the UK’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates">national minimum wage</a> and put up with stressful working conditions.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-worked-in-precarious-jobs-for-more-than-10-years-heres-what-unions-should-do-to-support-migrant-workers-205309">I've worked in precarious jobs for more than 10 years – here's what unions should do to support migrant workers</a>
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<p>The undocumented couriers we spoke to typically said they struggled to make enough money to pay off their debts and support their families, despite often working seven days a week. Mario, who was single and lived with friends, linked his long hours and the physical nature of his work with sustaining various injuries as well as mental stress:</p>
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<p>I can take some money home but at very high costs: long hours on the bike, aching knees and joints, back problems from carrying the thermal bag – [and then] dealing with the account broker … They are such a pain, and you are always like: “Yes, sir.”</p>
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<p>Some couriers also described receiving abuse from other riders on social media – for example, in response to their posts looking for accounts to rent. The documented couriers regard this activity as harming their prospects of securing decent pay and working hours.</p>
<h2>‘A choice between eating or getting documents’</h2>
<p>The undocumented couriers we interviewed were aged between 20 and 40, and possessed little or no English. They had arrived from different parts of the world, incurring loans and other debts to enter the UK – which were then added to by the need to buy or rent the bicycles, helmets, thermal bags and other gear to start working as a food delivery rider.</p>
<p>Edu, who was in his mid-30s, told us that before making any money for himself or his family back home, he first had to put money aside to pay off the debts he had incurred to get to the UK. He had arrived with a tourist visa nearly a year earlier, helped by an “agency” back in his home country. He said:</p>
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<p>I earn money for me and my family, but first and foremost to pay off any debt … I work every day to try to earn as much as possible. Money is tight, but somehow I am managing.</p>
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<p>Poignantly, he told us that he often goes short of food himself while working as a delivery rider:</p>
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<p>I’m always delivering food while hungry … I will only bring my family [to the UK] when I’m debt-free and I get my documents – but this day may never come. Until then, I work and work and work.</p>
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<p>Edu said he relied on other couriers to rent him food delivery account details for a weekly fee that was deducted directly from his wages. Social media and chat groups are ripe with posts offering accounts for rent. Typically, they ask for weekly fees of between £55 and £100.</p>
<p>Edu no longer had his tourist visa and was in the process of securing approval for his right-to-work documentation when we spoke. This presented a daily dilemma for him:</p>
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<p>I am dealing with the paperwork and on the phone trying to sort things out, or I am out on the bike trying to earn some money. It’s a choice between eating or getting the [legal] documents.</p>
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<p>On average, our undocumented interviewees earned between £900 and £1,500 a month, after deducting their account and gear rental costs. Working weeks of 80 to 115 hours were common, meaning that they earned well below the UK’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates">national minimum wage</a> (at the time of our interviews, £9.50 per hour for workers aged 23 and over).</p>
<p>The insecure and informal nature of this work results in hyper-precarious lives. The prohibitive costs of city accommodation in the UK, for example, are often minimised by renting rooms with other migrants. Interviewees described sharing a single bedroom with up to three other people.</p>
<p>Body aches and extreme fatigue were part of life for Edu as he tried to overcome the low pay by working long hours every day:</p>
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<p>The way I see it is, on weekdays I work to pay off my debts from back home, plus the bike and account rental. Weekends, when I work the most hours, are for me and my family … On Fridays and weekends, I sometimes work over 15 hours each day to compensate for the little money I take home during the week.</p>
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<h2>‘Easy to cut through the red tape’</h2>
<p>The UK online food ordering and delivery industry is currently valued at <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/market-size/online-food-ordering-delivery-platforms/">£2.75 billion</a>, having grown almost 30% each year since 2018. The number of public users of these food delivery services is currently put at 12.7 million – equating to almost one in four UK adults.</p>
<p>Riders who deliver for online food platforms are self-employed, with flexibility a key selling-point for these <a href="https://theconversation.com/ken-loachs-new-film-on-the-gig-economy-tells-exactly-the-same-story-as-our-research-125743">“gig economy” jobs</a>. This includes the ability to ask a substitute to deliver on the rider’s behalf if he or she is unavailable. But our research confirms that some people, usually couriers themselves, use the substitution rule to rent out multiple accounts in different food delivery apps to supplement their income. As Anthony, a 30-something “courier-broker”, observed:</p>
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<p>I know that some [account holders] run real businesses here by renting multiple accounts, gear, the lot … This means that the demand [for accounts] is there … but it also tells you how easy it is to cut through the red tape.</p>
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<p>The online food platforms all have strict regulations regarding who is allowed to work as a delivery courier. For example, both <a href="https://riders.deliveroo.co.uk/en/support/new-riders/what-documents-do-i-need">Deliveroo</a> and <a href="https://www.uber.com/gb/en/deliver/">Uber Eats</a> – two of the <a href="https://medium.com/edison-discovers/in-uk-food-delivery-battleground-just-eat-takes-1-spot-with-45-market-share-e81f79f7133b">UK’s largest food delivery companies</a> – make clear on their websites that all couriers must be able to prove their right to work in the UK, including as a <a href="https://riders.deliveroo.co.uk/en/substitution">substitute</a> <a href="https://www.uber.com/gb/en/deliver/basics/before-you-start/staying-safe-with-the-uber-app/#substitute">rider</a>. When approached for comment about the issues raised in this article, both companies stressed that this policy is strictly enforced at all times.</p>
<p>However, responsibility for checking that substitute riders are qualified to work ultimately lies with the account holders themselves, and our research found multiple examples of undocumented migrant workers, as well as other documented but ineligible or banned riders, working informally as substitute couriers.</p>
<p>Sam, another courier who was renting out his accounts, told us he was “constantly looking out for potential new rentals” (individuals who are looking to rent accounts), but that “where I dedicate more time is in setting up new accounts”. These may come via friends and family members who are willing to register new accounts on multiple platforms for him, so he can rent them out to other couriers.</p>
<p>Sam, in his late 30s, had been renting out accounts to both documented and undocumented workers for three years, charging a weekly fee of £70. He added:</p>
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<p>It’s not like I’m expecting to get rich from this. But it gives me some pocket money to be more comfortable.</p>
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<p>One of the documented couriers we met during an earlier round of interviews also worked for a union that supports food couriers. Mark, who was in his mid-20s, said it was increasingly common to see undocumented couriers engaging in food delivery because platform companies were “pretty much passing the legal responsibility and costs on to the rider who is renting out the account”.</p>
<p>If you are a legitimate account holder, Mark explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’re supposed to do a criminal record, right-to-work check on whoever you’re handing the account to. But we all know that is not going to happen because it’s too much hassle.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As well as the initial checks, couriers then receive regular prompts to submit a <a href="https://riders.deliveroo.co.uk/en/news/facial-verification">selfie</a> through the account app to verify their identity. Sam explained how he gets round this identity-checking system when renting the account to an undocumented or disqualified rider:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you’re using the account and the photo [prompt] comes up, you can message me, and I will log in [to the app] and take a selfie … I just need to verify my identity this way. Then you log back in, and that’s it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Deliveroo stressed that it operates a zero-tolerance policy towards riders who fail to meet their obligations when they appoint another person to complete orders. It added that it conducts regular sweeps of its riders to search for any indication of suspicious or illegal activity, and is rolling out new identity verification technology to further strengthen its system of ID checks. A spokesperson said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Deliveroo riders are self-employed and those who work with us must have the right to work in the UK. Riders have these checks completed before signing up with Deliveroo, and riders who engage substitutes – for example lending accounts to friends or family to do deliveries – are contractually responsible for doing the same. Should a rider subcontract to an individual without right-to-work status, Deliveroo would end their contract immediately. These obligations are clearly and consistently communicated to all riders.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Uber Eats stated that it takes immediate steps to deactivate an account if any breach is found to have taken place, and that it carries out regular identity verification on account holders to ensure that the owner retains control of their account. A spokesperson said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All couriers who use the Uber Eats app are required to pass a criminal background check, be over the age of 18, and hold a valid right to work in the UK. Any courier that fails to meet these criteria will have their access to the app removed.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Living ‘in constant anxiety’</h2>
<p>The nature of food courier work, with pay per delivery and high workforce competition, means the riders – whether using bicycles, ebikes or mopeds – can be exposed to <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/nov/road-collisions-more-likely-takeaway-delivery-riders-working-gig-economy">health hazards and safety risks</a>, in some cases resulting in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017020969593">serious injury</a>.</p>
<p>As well as accidents with cars and road rage incidents with drivers, our interviewees also highlighted the dangers from “cutting corners” – for example, running red lights and riding on pavements. However, both Deliveroo and Uber Eats stressed that they do not have strict delivery deadlines, and that riders are encouraged to adhere to the rules of the road at all times.</p>
<p>While some food platform companies, including both <a href="https://riders.deliveroo.co.uk/en/support/insurance/what-is-covered-by-deliveroo-insurance">Deliveroo</a> and <a href="https://www.uber.com/gb/en/drive/insurance/">Uber Eats</a>, offer their riders insurance while delivering, many documented couriers feel the need to buy more comprehensive coverage.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-heroes-left-behind-the-invisible-women-struggling-to-make-ends-meet-198210">COVID heroes left behind: the 'invisible' women struggling to make ends meet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But this option is not available to undocumented riders. Accidents can make them “visible”, jeopardising both their immediate ability to work and any future prospect of securing legitimate right-to-work status. This may lead them to avoid seeking treatment if an injury is sustained, instead continuing to work and thereby risking doing further damage to their physical and mental health.</p>
<p>Undocumented riders must also deal with the constant stress of being “shopped” for their lack of qualifications, or of losing their income stream if an account owner suddenly stops renting it to them or the food platform shuts it down. As a result, these riders usually access accounts from multiple sources to protect their income stream – including renting from family members or tight networks they may have built up before arriving in the UK.</p>
<p>Mario talked of living “in constant anxiety” about suddenly finding he cannot access his rented account:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I get so distressed because then I have to spend hours looking for a new [account], which obviously means I’m not making any money … It can be that the account expired, or simply that the broker rented to someone else who’s willing to pay more money.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another hurdle can be how undocumented migrants receive their wages, since all payments go to the account holder in the first place. Money exchanges rely on a high degree of trust, as Sam explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All details associated with the account are mine, apart from the mobile number. I just transfer the money but keep the [account rental] fee. They can cash out daily or weekly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Deliveroo highlighted that it carries out “systemic bank account checks” to verify the account holder is also the owner of the bank account.</p>
<p>Our interviewees told us that the account brokering system can, in some cases, lead to abusive and coercive behaviour towards undocumented couriers. Some described working in a perpetually hostile environment amid the twin threats of not being paid and of being exposed for their undocumented activity. We also saw numerous social media posts and chat rooms in which documented food couriers threatened to expose undocumented couriers.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for Deliveroo stressed that all forms of harassment or discriminatory behaviour are completely unacceptable, and that specific harassment claims are immediately investigated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Food couriers outside a McDonald's restaurant" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523807/original/file-20230502-3336-l8bw6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Undocumented couriers interviewed for this study worked long hours for well below the national minimum wage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/leicester-united-kingdom-september-4-2021-2053381370">SMC Photo/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Informal work across the UK</h2>
<p>The number of undocumented couriers working in app-based food delivery throughout the UK is unclear. But <a href="https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Technical/Future/pi-shadow-economy.pdf">studies</a> <a href="https://labordoc.ilo.org/discovery/fulldisplay/alma994951689602676/41ILO_INST:41ILO_V1">show</a> there has been a recent increase in informal work and employment practices in many UK sectors. Since 2016, businesses using undocumented workers – those without residence status or visas – are estimated to have generated between <a href="https://www.accountancydaily.co/acca-estimates-shadow-economy-value-ps223bn">10% and 12%</a> of the UK’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).</p>
<p>We know from our <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/1782295/WIP_GLAA_RCWS-Report-CAN-HAND-CAR-WASHES-BE-IMPROVED.pdf">wider research</a> that undocumented workers are a growing presence in a number of UK sectors. For example, at hand car washes, undocumented labour from Albania, sub-Saharan Africa, Iraq, and Kurdistan now competes with documented workers from eastern Europe. This has pushed day wage rates down to subsistence levels, with workers in some cases forgoing wages in favour of food and shelter.</p>
<p>In cash-only nail bars, a sector that has witnessed exponential growth in England and Wales, <a href="https://www.antislaverycommissioner.co.uk/media/1160/combating-modern-slavery-experienced-by-vietnamese-nationals-en-route-to-and-within-the-uk.pdf">most workers are inappropriately documented</a>. For example, they may be students who have remained in the UK beyond the terms of their student visa, or undocumented migrants who have entered the UK with the help of a “travel courier” – more commonly referred to as a trafficker. If you look in a nail bar you will typically see generous staff levels, but there are few, if any, adverts for technician jobs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-like-youre-a-criminal-but-i-am-not-a-criminal-first-hand-accounts-of-the-trauma-of-being-stuck-in-the-uk-asylum-system-202276">'It’s like you’re a criminal, but I am not a criminal.' First-hand accounts of the trauma of being stuck in the UK asylum system</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Both cash-only nail bars and hand car washes frequently fail to comply with regulations regarding health and safety and planning permission. Because they are unregulated, the status of those engaged (workers, contractors, or employees) is invisible to enforcement agencies, which <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjir.12286">our research</a> found are typically more interested in patterns of ownership, the potential for money laundering, and migrant dissemination than labour rights.</p>
<p>In contrast, online food platform companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats abide by all UK laws and regulations. But our research supports <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/deliveroo-and-uber-eats-takeaway-riders-rent-jobs-to-illegal-immigrants-ml36gvp93">previous reports</a> that have shown the sector’s rider substitutes system is being misused by some account holders, putting undocumented migrants who take advantage of this system at risk of harm and abuse. We believe stronger oversight on the part of the UK authorities is needed, if informal working in the food delivery sector is not to grow further and put more vulnerable people at risk.</p>
<p>In its response, Deliveroo stressed that it is constantly working to improve oversight of its riders, including by introducing new technology and working collaboratively with the relevant authorities. It added that riders’ use of substitutes is a legitimate right of the self-employed workforce, and rejected any comparison with other labour markets.</p>
<p><em>*All names of interviewees have been changed to protect their identities</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/its-like-youre-a-criminal-but-i-am-not-a-criminal-first-hand-accounts-of-the-trauma-of-being-stuck-in-the-uk-asylum-system-202276?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘It’s like you’re a criminal, but I am not a criminal.’ First-hand accounts of the trauma of being stuck in the UK asylum system
</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-toxic-policy-with-little-returns-lessons-for-the-uk-rwanda-deal-from-australia-and-the-us-201790?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘A toxic policy with little returns’ – lessons for the UK-Rwanda deal from Australia and the US</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-heroes-left-behind-the-invisible-women-struggling-to-make-ends-meet-198210?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">COVID heroes left behind: the ‘invisible’ women struggling to make ends meet
</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pedro Mendonça receives funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Clark receives funding from The Art's and Humanities Research Council/Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre, the Home Office Modern Slavery fund and the National Crime Agency. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadia Kougiannou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our study of food delivery workers in one English city highlights the daily challenges facing undocumented migrants in this sector.Pedro Mendonça, Associate Professor of Work and Employment, Heriot-Watt UniversityIan Clark, Professor in Work and Employment, Nottingham Trent UniversityNadia Kougiannou, Associate Professor of Work and Employment, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2043532023-04-26T05:28:44Z2023-04-26T05:28:44ZColes’ Uber Eats deal brings the gig economy inside the traditional workplace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522923/original/file-20230426-14-jw8pwz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C25%2C2149%2C1528&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">KYDPL KYODO / AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This month <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/coles-uber-eats-to-offer-one-hour-grocery-delivery-20230413-p5d0b1">Coles announced a major new partnership with Uber Eats</a> that will further expand the supermarket giant’s links with the gig economy. Under the arrangement, Uber Eats drivers will not only complete home delivery for the supermarket, drivers will also pick and pack orders from supermarket shelves. </p>
<p>Previously, online orders were completed by Coles’ directly employed “personal shoppers” who would hand over the order to a delivery partner. More than 500 Coles stores across the country will start selling goods via the digital platform, with gig workers performing the role of a Coles personal shopper. </p>
<p>The deal differs from an <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/woolworths-offers-rapid-deliveries-for-5-via-new-metro60-app-20220623-p5aw7p.html">existing partnership between Woolworths Metro60 and Uber Eats</a>, forged in June 2022, which also promises rapid delivery, albeit with orders fulfilled by supermarket workers. </p>
<p>The Coles partnership is a significant development that will see Uber Eats drivers working inside the supermarket alongside traditional employees and customers.</p>
<h2>The gig economy enters the supermarket</h2>
<p>The supermarket duopoly have been steadily recruiting gig workers into their home delivery offerings since Coles <a href="https://www.cmo.com.au/article/631121/airtasker-partners-coles-personalised-grocery-service/">set up a partnership with Airtasker</a> in 2017. Demand for rapid deliveries then surged during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. </p>
<p>From one perspective, Coles and Woolworths are simply outsourcing specific tasks (such as picking, packing and delivery) to Uber Eats and other gig-work platforms. From another, the supermarkets are <em>absorbing</em> gig workers into their own activities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coles-and-woolworths-are-moving-to-robot-warehouses-and-on-demand-labour-as-home-deliveries-soar-166556">Coles and Woolworths are moving to robot warehouses and on-demand labour as home deliveries soar</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Gig workers are not formal employees and do not enjoy the same legal protections as other staff, but they are nonetheless performing work that is core supermarket business. </p>
<p>The so-called “<a href="https://www.scmr.com/article/re_inventing_the_last_mile">last mile</a>” of delivery – the final leg between a hub such as a warehouse or supermarket and the consumer – is widely considered the most difficult and unprofitable part of logistics, particularly for rapid deliveries. While both supermarkets run their own last-mile systems for deliveries booked in advance, the partnerships with Uber Eats let them offer customers rapid home delivery options while offloading the risk associated with the last mile.</p>
<h2>Potentially tens of thousands of jobs at stake</h2>
<p>In 2022, I interviewed supermarket workers about <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-weird-dinging-sound-that-everyone-dreads-what-rapid-deliveries-mean-for-supermarket-workers-185960">the impact of rapid delivery services</a>. Many expressed concerns that the gig economy was “getting closer” with some predicting the role of the personal shopper – a supermarket employee who would gather and pack items for delivery – would eventually be taken up by gig workers. </p>
<p>Coles says the Uber Eats drivers will “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/coles-to-put-500-plus-stores-on-uber-eats-in-major-gig-economy-expansion-20230413-p5d048.html">complement rather than compete</a>” with existing direct-employed supermarket employees. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-weird-dinging-sound-that-everyone-dreads-what-rapid-deliveries-mean-for-supermarket-workers-185960">'A weird dinging sound that everyone dreads': what rapid deliveries mean for supermarket workers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For now, gig workers and employees will work alongside each other. Over time, however, it is possible other supermarket roles will be displaced into the gig economy. </p>
<p>Coles and Woolworths are Australia’s largest private sector employers. As they bring the gig economy into their workplaces, it has the potential to affect tens of thousands of jobs. </p>
<h2>Grocery is a winner-takes-all industry</h2>
<p>The new partnership was announced just days after grocery delivery startup Milkrun officially folded. </p>
<p>Milkrun was the last standing of four Australian rapid grocery delivery startups launched in the past couple of years. The company failed to turn a profit, was quick to abandon its central proposition of ten-minute delivery, and <a href="https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/business/holy-cow-grocery-delivery-startup-milkrun-is-dead-86-million-later-aged-19-months/">burned through $86 million in venture capital</a> in less than two years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/milkruns-demise-is-another-nail-in-the-10-minute-grocery-delivery-business-model-203757">MilkRun's demise is another nail in the 10-minute grocery-delivery business model</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With much less fanfare, both Coles and Woolworths have achieved what startups couldn’t. Their advantage has been their enormous scale and market power, enabling them to push suppliers for lower prices and make use of their existing networks of distribution centres, stores, delivery vans – and now partnerships with the gig economy.</p>
<p>In an unfair playing field, the supermarket giants have the best of both worlds: vertical integration with the supply chain <em>and</em> the ability to shift risk away from the business and onto individual gig workers. </p>
<h2>Essential service or frivolous convenience?</h2>
<p>The example of Milkrun and other startups suggests the business of on-demand grocery delivery may not be feasible without an army of precariously employed workers such as Uber Eats drivers. This raises another question: do we really need or want groceries delivered this quickly?</p>
<p>The supermarkets often frame their new deliveries services as benefiting “<a href="https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/community/news/woolworths-launches-new-initiative-to-increase-grocery-home-deliveries-to-vulnerable-australians">vulnerable Australians</a>”, such as the elderly and people living with disabilities. The implication is that the availability of rapid grocery delivery is a social good, rather than simply a convenience.</p>
<p>However, if the service is truly essential, it seems the people doing the work should be valued and supported with well-paid and secure employment. What’s more, it’s not entirely convincing that rapid grocery delivery in its current form is essential at all. </p>
<p>Many personal shoppers I interviewed said on-demand purchases tended to be frivolous. Referring to the partnership between Woolworths and Uber Eats, one worker recalled: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>People are ordering […] a single banana and a Red Bull. It’s really weird the stuff you get.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another added: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>No one used to do it. Now, people buy only five things and they’ll pay that fee to have it delivered soon. It’s more popular for alcohol or cigarettes or something like that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One supermarket worker expressed deep scepticism of rapid delivery, stating:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It didn’t seem like it was about meeting the demands of shoppers, that’s made explicit through the article cap for Uber Eats. […] You can only order 25 [items] so it wasn’t about regular shopping. Really, I think it was just more for the convenience. Instead of going to the shops yourself, you can just wait at home for it, and someone else can pick it for you. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The cost of this convenience will be carried by supermarket workers, who in recent years have already seen their work transformed to adhere to the logic of the gig economy, with on-demand time pressures and ad-hoc scheduling. Now, as the gig economy moves into the physical supermarket space, the distinction between conventional employment and gig work is further blurred.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204353/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Kate Kelly receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She works with United Workers Union which has members across the supermarket supply chain. </span></em></p>Australia’s largest private-sector employers are steadily integrating gig workers into their operations.Lauren Kate Kelly, PhD Candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2037572023-04-14T04:42:42Z2023-04-14T04:42:42ZMilkRun’s demise is another nail in the 10-minute grocery-delivery business model<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520962/original/file-20230414-16-mq60kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3500%2C1770&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstoc</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sydney-based startup MilkRun made a big splash with its promise to deliver groceries within ten minutes, raising <a href="https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/business/holy-cow-grocery-delivery-startup-milkrun-is-dead-86-million-later-aged-19-months/">more than A$85 million</a> from some of the biggest names in Australian venture capital, including Atlassian billionare Mike Cannon-Brookes.</p>
<p>MilkRun’s co-founder and chief executive Dany Milham had already found success with fast-delivering mattress company Koala. Less than a year ago he was confidently predicting MilkRun would be bigger than Coles or Woolworths <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/how-10-minute-grocery-deliverer-milkrun-became-an-overnight-success-20220406">within ten years</a>. </p>
<p>Today the company is finished, with more than 400 staff made redundant. </p>
<p>It has joined a lengthening list of platform delivery companies that have done their dash in the Australian market. This includes three other local startups promising 10-minute deliveries – <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/grocery-delivery-company-send-collapses-with-300-staff-at-risk/news-story/3c82addb5a142a53d1cb9c2cc7de0f67">Send</a> in May 2022, <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/grocery-delivery-service-voly-announces-its-closure-in-australia/d2381a04-8e2d-4d86-b81c-008d55ac0436">Voly</a> in November 2022, and <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/shock-as-colab-food-delivery-service-collapses/news-story/ab8ed6e748cbdce23ab406ec8e313271">CoLab</a> which went into voluntary administration last week. British-owned Deliveroo <a href="https://theconversation.com/deliveroos-exit-from-australia-shows-why-gig-workers-need-more-protection-194743">shut down</a> its Australian operations in November 2022, while German-owned Foodora exited in 2018. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deliveroos-exit-from-australia-shows-why-gig-workers-need-more-protection-194743">Deliveroo's exit from Australia shows why gig workers need more protection</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-14/milkrun-delivery-riders-closure-redundancies/102212800">email to staff</a>, Milham attributed MilkRun’s end to the slowing economy: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Economic and capital market conditions have continued to deteriorate, and while the business has continued to perform well, we feel strongly that this is the right decision in the current environment. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Certainly the effect of things like inflation increasing operating costs (including debt) as well as curbing discretionary spending can’t have helped. </p>
<p>But even in the best of conditions, MilkRun faced an uphill climb. </p>
<h2>Could Milkrun ever make money?</h2>
<p>Milkrun was, obviously, not profitable. This was not a problem per se. Many startups lose money for years before becoming immensely profitable. For example, Amazon, founded in 1994, didn’t have its first <a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/2575106/amazon-records-first-profitable-year-in-its-history.html">profitable year until 2003</a>. </p>
<p>Some startups require significant scale to be profitable. Others forego profit to grow market share. Presumably the big name-venture capital firms that poured money into MilkRun – Cannon-Brookes’ private investment company <a href="https://grok.ventures/">Grok Ventures</a>, <a href="https://www.airtree.vc/">Airtree Ventures</a> (which invested in Canva), and New York-based <a href="https://www.tigerglobal.com/">Tiger Global Management</a> – saw such potential. </p>
<p>But what was that potential, exactly? How could MilkRun ever scale to become profitable? Was there really a big enough market for super-quick grocery delivery? Or were they swept along by the mania for delivery ventures that came with the pandemic, lockdowns and the surge in online ordering in 2020 and 2021? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A food delivery rider in Sydney, October 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520963/original/file-20230414-22-iaq1zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A food delivery rider in Sydney, October 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Baker/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>MilkRun commenced during the pandemic – the perfect time for “last mile” deliveries. But by mid-last year, with lockdowns a thing of the past, the numbers didn’t look great.</p>
<p>It was still <a href="https://www.forbes.com.au/news/investing/milkrun-collapses-as-400-staff-made-redundant">losing at least $10 on each delivery</a>. Though that was much better than the $40 loss it had initially been making, Milham’s plan to soon become profitable would involve, in June 2022, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/entrepreneurship/losing-10-an-order-grocery-app-milkrun-drops-rapid-delivery-pledge-to-curb-losses-20220624-p5awg9.html">dropping</a> MilkRun’s 10-minute delivery pledge – undermining its key branding point.</p>
<h2>Costs would have gone up anyway</h2>
<p>Even without the unexpected economic hit of inflation over the past year, MilkRun faced escalating costs. </p>
<p>To grow market share, it would have to expand out from the high-density, affluent inner-city areas. Operating in more suburban areas, with longer distances and more dispersed customers, would compound “last mile” delivery costs. </p>
<p>Any hint of profitability would also inevitably arouse competition from the major <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/analysis/milkrun-woolworths-one-hour-delivery/">supermarkets</a>, whose thousands of suburban stores and supply chains positioned them to compete in the express delivery market any time they chose. </p>
<p>The cost of MilkRun’s “dark store” distribution network, set up when rents were suppressed by closed borders, were also likely to increase. </p>
<h2>Narrow path to profitability</h2>
<p>Perhaps MilkRun’s goal was to grow market share until drone delivery became viable or other business lines (such as alcohol delivery) and profit opportunities arose. But, on present unit economics, even in ideal conditions, this was a tall ask in a post-pandemic world.</p>
<p>Arguably the writing has been on the wall for about year, with MilkRun reportedly unable to persuade any investors <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/milkrun-investors-2022-report/">to sink more money</a> into the company.</p>
<p>Venture capitalists know many of the startups they fund will fail. They will back an idea early on, when a path to profitability is unclear. But they will not keep pumping in more money if a path does not materialise.</p>
<p>It is easy to be a “Monday expert”, decrying decisions from a position of perfect hindsight. But MilkRun always had a challenging business model, something ever more apparent as the world emerged from lockdowns, demand subsided, cost of living pressures increased and business costs rose.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Humphery-Jenner is on the Investment Committee of Sydney Angels. He does not have any direct financial interest with any companies mentioned in this article. </span></em></p>Australian startup MilkRun may have attracted more than $85 million in venture capital but it always had a challenging business model.Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1980272023-01-18T18:05:11Z2023-01-18T18:05:11ZInsomnia, headaches, and stomach pains: the hidden costs of gig workers’ flexibility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505141/original/file-20230118-8082-1r7n63.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3876%2C2578&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uber, which has operations in 72 countries, is a household name of the gig economy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UBER_Eats_Delivery_Cyclist_Riding_Through_a_Busy_Oxford_Road_in_Manchester.jpg">Creative Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ever-expanding gig economy has brought with it the rise of the independent contractor, from delivery drivers to personal shoppers and dog walkers. Compared to traditional employees, independent contractors are classified as self-employed and do not benefit from a minimum wage, paid time off, or other protections. This kind of work arrangement is becoming increasingly common, with a <a href="https://www.upwork.com/research/the-great-resignation">recent study</a> showing 20% of professionals surveyed are considering switching to independent contract work.</p>
<p>Growing popularity has also raised questions about how to appropriately categorise and regulate workers in the gig economy. In <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-court-idUSKBN20R23F">France</a> and the <a href="https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1751796/ongoing-debate-over-worker-status">UK</a>, courts have held that rideshare drivers are employees entitled to protections like a minimum wage and paid time off. In the US, states such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/technology/massachusetts-gig-workers.html">Massachusetts</a> viewing rideshare drivers as employees, while in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html">California</a>, a similar proposition failed to pass.</p>
<h2>The promises and perils of limitless flexibility</h2>
<p>Gig economy companies have a clear interest in influencing these public debates, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/california-voted-for-cheaper-uber-rides-it-may-have-hurt-drivers/">as was the case in California</a>, and have gone so far as to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/12/uber-paid-academics-six-figure-sums-for-research-to-feed-to-the-media">pay economists</a> in the United States, Germany, and France to produce research painting independent contractor arrangements in a favourable light. Gig economy companies often highlight the freedom workers have to set their own schedule as one key reason to preserve the independent contractor status. For example, <a href="https://www.uber.com/us/en/u/flexibility/">Uber’s website</a> seeks to recruit drivers by highlighting the flexibility their app offers, complete with statistics about how much current drivers value this autonomy. <a href="https://dasher.doordash.com/en-us?source=dx_about_page&internal-referrer=legacy-signup">DoorDash</a> and <a href="https://www.instacart.com/company/shopper-community/10-items-or-less-the-importance-of-flexibility/">Instacart</a> make similar claims on their websites.</p>
<p>But there is a downside to all this flexibility that is rarely discussed. Instead of an hourly rate or salary, independent contractors are paid for each task they complete with no minimum wage protections. Without guaranteed income, these workers experience “pay volatility”, or frequent changes in earnings over time. As a researcher interested in uncovering the ways that work affects our lives outside of work, I wanted to understand what impact pay volatility has on workers’ health. I recently conducted three studies dedicated to answering this question.</p>
<h2>Headaches, back aches, and stomach problems</h2>
<p>In my <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-22176-001">study</a>, I recruited 375 gig workers from across the United States using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online platform where workers complete small tasks for a fee. Because these workers are paid varying rates for each task they complete, they experience volatility in their pay. As one participant said, “I can make $80 one day and barely hit $15 the next. It is very unpredictable.” Assuming an eight-hour workday, that’s like switching between earning $10/hour on one day and $1.88/hour the next. I focused only on “dedicated” MTurkers – those who spent at least 20 hours per week on the platform and completed at least 1,000 tasks – and surveyed them over the course of three weeks.</p>
<p>My findings showed that gig workers who reported more volatility in their pay also tended to report more physical symptoms like headaches, back aches, and stomach problems. The reason why? Workers experiencing more pay volatility were more concerned about making ends meet and were preoccupied with thoughts about their personal finances. Dealing with pay volatility means never knowing how much money you’ll make in a given week or month, and that insecurity makes it difficult to cope with ordinary expenses. As one participant described, they like working from home on their own time, but:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Mturk is too unpredictable in terms of the money and effort required that it becomes frustrating and depressing.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This challenge seemed to weigh on workers, enough to impact their physical health.</p>
<p>While the problem of pay volatility is clearly relevant for gig workers, they aren’t the only ones who experience it. People who rely on tips, such as restaurant servers, bartenders, valets, and hairdressers, also have constantly changing take-home pay. In a second study, I asked 85 tipped workers in the US about their earnings and health every day for two weeks. Here is one participant from that study reporting the tips they earned each day, underscoring how much volatility can exist for some:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One worker in the study reported strong variations in the tips received per day, ranging from $250 to nothing at all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Results indicated that earning more in tips on any given day didn’t make people feel better or worse that evening. But experiencing more <em>volatility</em> in tips over the two weeks was related to more physical symptoms and greater insomnia.</p>
<p>One thing that gig and tipped workers have in common is that they often have lower-than-average income. It might be that pay volatility is not harmful on its own, but only when coupled with low income. After all, Elon Musk probably wasn’t losing much sleep when Tesla shares recently <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musks-net-worth-slips-below-200-billion-tesla-shares-waver-2022-11-08/">dropped</a>, even if the effect on his net worth was substantial. Hard-pressed to find a sample of billionaires willing to complete my surveys, I conducted a third study with 252 higher-paid workers in sales, finance, and marketing in the United States. Commissions and bonuses are common in these industries, meaning that workers still experience pay volatility even if their income is higher. While the effects were not as strong, I saw the same pattern where workers who were more dependent on volatile forms of pay reported more physical symptoms and worse sleep.</p>
<p>I also considered how workers could protect themselves from the harmful effects of pay volatility. Mindfulness, for example, refers to one’s ability to focus on the present moment instead of worrying about the future and thinking about the past. Although people who are more mindful tend to show <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/be-more-mindful-at-work">resilience</a> in the face of stress, they were equally affected by pay volatility in my study. Workers who were able to save a larger percent of their take-home pay were also similarly affected by pay volatility. These results show that pay volatility is equally harmful for most people. The only factor that actually weakened the observed effects of pay volatility was individuals’ reliance on volatile sources of pay. When volatile pay made up a smaller percentage of their total income, pay volatility didn’t seem to impact their health or sleep.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wipes his eyes in front of a computer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seesawing income is linked to poor health, with workers reporting increased headaches, back aches, stomach problems and insomnia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/young-indian-eastern-tired-exhausted-business-1979913266">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hidden costs demand consideration</h2>
<p>So what can be done? First, lawmakers need to consider both the benefits <em>and</em> drawbacks of these independent contractor work arrangements. The benefits like flexibility and job creation are well advertised by gig economy companies, but there are also hidden costs that receive less attention. As one participant in my survey stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“There are no safeguards in place for workers to guarantee a fair wage on any tasks which, as you can imagine, is probably the one singular aspect of working that produces the most stress, angst and anxiety.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ensuring stronger legal protections for independent contractors can help create these safeguards.</p>
<p>Second, companies that employ independent contractors or pay workers based on piece-rate or commissions should carefully consider whether the perceived benefits to motivation or performance outweigh the costs to worker health. Aside from this economic calculation, there is also a moral imperative to offer decent work and preserve good health and well-being among employees, in line with <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a>.</p>
<p>Third, companies could strike a balance by reducing workers’ reliance on volatile forms of pay, offering more substantial base pay instead. This strategy should weaken the link between pay volatility and health according to my findings. Overall, it’s clear that while work arrangements popularised by the gig economy hold benefits, we must also consider hidden costs and move toward improving conditions for this substantial swath of the population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon M. Sayre ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Gig companies like Uber often promote the freedom that comes with independent contractor arrangements. They talk less about the impact that pay volatility can have on workers’ health.Gordon M. Sayre, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, EM Lyon Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1944242023-01-09T13:17:10Z2023-01-09T13:17:10ZWhat’s a ‘gig’ job? How it’s legally defined affects workers’ rights and protections<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501637/original/file-20221216-21-4ccz2k.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C103%2C2923%2C1594&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rally for Uber and Lyft drivers in 2019 reflects desire for workers to have same benefits as employees.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/California-GigEconomy/ad2325c039b24f07a054653758ffbedb/photoa">AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The “gig” economy has captured the attention of technology futurists, journalists, academics and policymakers. </p>
<p>“Future of work” discussions tend toward two extremes: breathless <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/03/thriving-in-the-gig-economy">excitement at the brave new world</a> that provides greater flexibility, mobility and entrepreneurial energy, or <a href="https://giveget.medium.com/yes-the-gig-economy-sucks-no-its-not-fulfilling-its-promise-of-freedom-af9738939f16">dire accounts</a> of its immiserating impacts on the workers who labor beneath the gig economy’s yoke. </p>
<p>These widely diverging views may be partly due to the <a href="https://www.gigeconomydata.org/basics/what-gig-worker">many</a> <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/human-resources/what-is-a-gig-worker">definitions</a> of what constitutes “gig work” and the resulting difficulties in measuring its prevalence. As an academic who has studied workplace laws for decades and ran <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd">the federal agency</a> that enforces workplace protections during the Obama administration, I know the way we define, measure and treat gig workers under the law has significant consequences for workers. That’s particularly true for those lacking leverage in the labor market. </p>
<p>While there are benefits for workers for this emerging model of employment, there are pitfalls as well. Confusion over the meaning and size of the gig workforce – at times the <a href="https://www.thetruthaboutcwi.com/">intentional work</a> of companies with a vested economic interest – can obscure the problems gig status can have on workers’ earnings, workplace conditions and opportunities. </p>
<h2>Defining gig work</h2>
<p>Many trace the phrase “gig economy” to a 2009 <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-gig-economy">essay</a> in which editor and author Tina Brown proclaimed: “No one I know has a job anymore. They’ve got Gigs.” </p>
<p>Although Brown focused on professional and semiprofessional workers chasing short-term work, the term soon applied to a <a href="https://dollarsandsense.org/archives/2014/0314friedman.html">variety of jobs</a> in low-paid occupations and industries. Several years later, the rapid ascent of Uber, Lyft and DoorDash led the term gig to be associated with <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/11/what-motivates-gig-economy-workers">platform and digital business models</a>. More recently, the pandemic linked gig work to a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/04/07/coronavirus-turns-uber-into-gig-platform-for-all-work/?sh=16b9628b1db9">broader set of jobs</a> associated with high turnover, <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3h60d754">limited career prospects</a>, volatile wages and exposure to COVID-19 risk.</p>
<p>The imprecision of gig therefore connotes different things: <a href="https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2018/contingent-workers/home.htm">Some uses</a> focus on the temporary or “contingent” nature of the work, such as jobs that may be terminated at any time, usually at the discretion of the employer. <a href="https://shift.hks.harvard.edu/">Other definitions</a> focus on the unpredictability of work in terms of earnings, scheduling, hours provided in a workweek or location. Still <a href="https://www.fissuredworkplace.net/">other depictions</a> focus on the business structure through which work is engaged – a staffing agency, digital platform, contractor or other intermediary. Further <a href="https://research.upjohn.org/reports/271/">complicating</a> the definition of gig is whether the focus is on a worker’s primary source of income or on side work meant to supplement income.</p>
<h2>Measuring gig work</h2>
<p>These differing definitions of gig work have led to widely varying estimates of its prevalence. </p>
<p>A conservative estimate from the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/conemp.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> household-based survey of “alternative work arrangements” suggests that gig workers “in non-standard categories” account for about 10% of employment. Alternatively, other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2021.101974">researchers</a> estimate the prevalence as three times as common, or 32.5%, using a Federal Reserve survey that broadly defines gig work to include any work that is temporary and variable in nature as either a primary or secondary source of earnings. And when freelancing platform <a href="https://www.upwork.com/research/freelance-forward-2021">Upworks</a> and consulting firm <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/future-of-america/freelance-side-hustles-and-gigs-many-more-americans-have-become-independent-workers">McKinsey & Co.</a> use a broader concept of “independent work,” they report rates as high as 36% of employed respondents. </p>
<p>No consensus definition or measurement approach has emerged, despite many attempts, including a 2020 <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/25822/chapter/1">panel report</a> by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Various estimates do suggest several common themes, however: Gig work is sizable, present in both traditional and digital workplaces, and draws upon workers across the age, education, demographic and skill spectrum. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>As the above indicates, gig workers can range from high-paid professionals working on a project-to-project basis to low-wage workers whose earnings are highly variable, who work in nonprofessional or semiprofessional occupations and who accept – by choice or necessity – volatile hours and a short-term time commitment from the organization paying for that work. </p>
<p>Regardless of their professional status, many workers operating in gig arrangements are classified as independent contractors rather than employees. As <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/how-u-s-companies-harm-workers-by-making-them-independent-contractors/">independent contractors</a>, workers lose rights to a minimum wage, <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20220927">overtime</a> and a safe and healthy work environment as well as protections against discrimination and harassment. Independent contractors also lose access to unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and paid sick leave now required in many states. </p>
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<p>Federal and state <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2002/01/art1full.pdf">laws</a> differ in the factors they draw on to make that call. A key concept underlying that determination is how “<a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/13-flsa-employment-relationship">economically dependent</a>” the worker is on the employer or contracting party. Greater economic independence – for example, the ability to determine price of service, how and where tasks are done and opportunities for expanding or contracting that work based on the individual’s own skills, abilities and enterprise – suggest a role as an independent contractor. </p>
<p>In contrast, if the hiring party basically calls the shots – for example, controlling what the individual does, how they do their work and when they do it, what they are permitted to do and not do, and what performance is deemed acceptable – this suggests employee status. That’s because workplace laws are generally geared toward employees and seek to protect workers who have unequal bargaining leverage in the labor market, a concept based on <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/300/379/">long-standing Supreme Court precedent</a>. </p>
<h2>Making work more precarious</h2>
<p>Over the past few decades, a <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/gig-worker-survey/">growing number of low-wage workers</a> find themselves in gig work situations – everything from platform drivers and delivery personnel to construction laborers, distribution workers, short-haul truck drivers and <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20221110-1">home health aides</a>. Taken together, the grouping could easily exceed <a href="https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2019.5.5.08">20 million workers</a>.</p>
<p>Many companies have incentives to <a href="https://www.nelp.org/publication/independent-contractor-misclassification-imposes-huge-costs-workers-federal-state-treasuries-update-october-2020/">misclassify</a> these workers as independent contractors in order to reduce costs and risks, not because of a truly transformed nature of work where those so classified are real entrepreneurs or self-standing businesses. </p>
<p>Since gig work tends to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/29/gig-economy-traps-workers-in-precarious-existence-says-report">volatile</a> and <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-15-168r">contingent</a>, losing employment protections amplifies the precariousness of work. A business using misclassified workers can gain cost advantages over competitors who treat their workers as employees as required by the law. This competitive dynamic can spread misclassification to new companies, industries and occupations – a problem we addressed directly, for example, in <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20140827">construction cases</a> when I led the Wage and Hour Division and <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20220308">more recently in several health care cases</a>. </p>
<p>The future of work is not governed by immutable technological forces but involves volitional private and public choices. Navigating to that future requires weighing the benefits gig work can provide <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/business/economy/gig-work.html">some workers with greater economic independence</a> against the continuing need to protect and bestow rights for the many workers who will continue to play on a very uneven playing field in the labor market.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194424/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Over the last two decades, David Weil has received funding from the US Department of Labor, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to study how business organization affects workers under federal and state workplace laws.
He also led the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in the Obama administration. He has periodically advised state and federal government organizations regarding workplace laws and their enforcement. </span></em></p>What a ‘gig worker’ is remains ill-defined, which can suit employers. But the spread of the gig economy means more workers don’t have the same rights and protections as employees.David Weil, Visiting Senior Faculty Fellow, Ash Center for Democracy Harvard Kennedy School / Professor, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1947122023-01-04T13:28:20Z2023-01-04T13:28:20ZWorking in isolation can pose mental health challenges – here’s what anyone can learn from how gig workers have adapted<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500824/original/file-20221213-22519-z6pe3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C15%2C5054%2C3374&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coffee shops can be a "third space" – not home or the office – where remote or gig workers can go to feel less isolated.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/people-using-technology-in-coffee-shop-royalty-free-image/514408997?adppopup=true">Granger Wootz/Tetra images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the pandemic, it is clear that remote work is here to stay. It seems every week there are more news stories about workers <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/09/to-get-people-back-in-the-office-make-it-social">preferring to work remotely</a>, or companies <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220722-the-companies-doubling-down-on-remote-work">closing physical office spaces</a>. </p>
<p>This shift has employees and managers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000948">navigating new workplace challenges</a>, not least of which is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220616-is-remote-work-worse-for-wellbeing-than-people-think#:%7E:text=One%20survey%20showed%2081%25%20of,the%20shift%20to%20remote%20work">mental health concerns from working in isolation</a>.</p>
<p>Now more than ever, there is much to be gained by learning from the lived experiences of gig workers – anyone working independently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030098">on a “gig-to-gig” basis</a>. Many have experienced and experimented with managing a form of radical agency, flexibility and autonomy in an environment where <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030098">working in isolation was a norm</a> long before it became a more <a href="https://resources.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work">global reality</a>. </p>
<p>We are a team of management professors at <a href="https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/profile.html?id=LAMBERB">Indiana University</a>, the <a href="https://bryan.uncg.edu/faculty-and-staff/brianna-caza/">University of North Carolina at Greensboro</a>, <a href="https://experts.mcmaster.ca/display/reidem">McMaster University</a> and the <a href="https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/sue-ashford">University of Michigan</a>. Drawing on <a href="https://www.thegigworklife.com/">our own research</a> on gig work, as well as that of others studying the gig economy, we can identify some of the challenges of working in isolation, and offer some practical advice on how to address them.</p>
<h2>The emotional costs of isolated work</h2>
<p>Gig work comes with some upsides, like being one’s own boss or setting one’s own schedule. However, the isolation typical of gig work can also take an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103784">emotional toll</a>. Gig workers often feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839218759646">lonely and anxious</a> because they lack easy access to relationships or membership in an organization.</p>
<p>In preliminary research done for her dissertation, one of us, Brittany Lambert, has found that this anxiety can rise to clinically significant levels. In this research, 47 gig workers in highly skilled professions provided a total of 1,287 responses to daily surveys about their work experiences and mental health. Initial findings revealed that on average, they experienced heightened levels of anxiety for more than half of the 10-day study. </p>
<p>Some degree of worrying is healthy – it can even support <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000266">productivity</a>. However, higher levels of persistent anxiety <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders#:%7E:text=Generalized%20anxiety%20disorder%20(GAD)%20usually,for%20months%2C%20if%20not%20years">can also be disruptive</a>. As workers drain their resources and energy <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000855">to manage both the chronic anxiety</a> stemming from their working conditions and the daily demands of their job, they may be more likely to burn out.</p>
<p>Additionally, research into the isolation of gig work has shown that working this way has implications for professional development. Gig workers can often lack <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2018.11.001">access to social resources</a> that help traditional workers do their jobs and advance their careers, like feedback, new ideas, knowledge and even emotional support. </p>
<p>While these obstacles may still be fresh to newly remote employees, many gig workers have learned to flourish in the face of these challenges. In fact, Lambert’s dissertation suggests that the autonomy in this type of work – working by yourself and choosing how, when and where to work – may be both anxiety provoking and anxiety reducing (protective to mental health). So, how do gig workers equip themselves to thrive in work environments that isolate them from their colleagues? Research suggests some answers.</p>
<h2>Cultivate community</h2>
<p>One way to break the isolation of working alone is to intentionally craft a support system.</p>
<p>Emerging research on gig workers’ social lives suggests it is possible to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170221103146">build a thriving social community</a> even when work does not come with built-in relationships. Instead, gig workers must be proactive and resourceful in pursuing and deepening these connections. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001029">more and more gig work communities are popping up</a> in various cities, facilitated by online forums, writers associations and co-working spaces. These groups can provide a sense of belonging to a larger community. </p>
<p>Another way gig workers creatively cultivate relationships is by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839218759646">routinely working in the same public place</a> — a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986754">third place</a>” like a coffee shop. Research findings suggest that gig workers fare better when they proactively seek out and foster <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170221103146">the meaningful relationships</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839218759646">shown to support</a> thriving and managing difficult emotions, like anxiety, at work.</p>
<h2>Break negative thought patterns</h2>
<p>Rumination is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2635">a repetitive pattern of negative thinking</a> in which people fixate on their problems and shortcomings rather than remembering achievements or thinking up potential solutions. </p>
<p>When isolated workers feel lonely and anxious, they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000838">more likely to ruminate</a>. For example, the combination of gig work stressors, from financial instability to chronic isolation, may promote ruminative thought patterns such as, “I didn’t finish this client work today – that means I’m not good at my job or cut out to succeed in this type of work.” Breaking this cycle of unhelpful thinking <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2005.07.003">can reduce anxiety</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000838">increase engagement at work</a>. </p>
<p>There are many evidence-based tools and practices that can help people become aware of and engage with ruminative thoughts in more helpful and effective ways. These include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822">mindfulness techniques</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000268">journaling and reflection</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.04.002">many forms of psychotherapy</a>. </p>
<h2>A reflection exercise</h2>
<p>The next time you notice feeling down, anxious or stuck ruminating, here is one simple exercise created by clinical psychologist Natasha Hansen of Indiana University to shift those feelings and thoughts. Pause and ask yourself the following four questions, writing down your responses and reflecting on each one as you go:</p>
<ul>
<li>What was I just thinking?</li>
<li>Is that thought true – what is the evidence for the thought, and is there any evidence against the thought? </li>
<li>Is that thought helpful – does it move me in the direction of the things that are important to me?</li>
<li>Is there something else I could tell myself that would be both more true and more effective in moving me in the direction of my goals?</li>
</ul>
<p>Take another minute to reflect on what you wrote down in Step 4. How does it make you feel? What does it prompt you to do in comparison with the thought you wrote down in Step 1? </p>
<p>Doing this sort of exercise regularly can help isolated gig workers manage their mental health. Much in the same way that athletes build muscle memory when they train, the more workers of all kinds practice catching and shifting unhelpful thought patterns, the more habitual effective thinking becomes. </p>
<p>In sum, we believe that understanding where gig workers struggle and what they do to effectively manage these challenges can help all of us as we try to navigate a future of work where “going to work” often means being alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194712/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brittany Lambert receives funding from SIOP (Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brianna Barker Caza receives funding from Social Science and Humanities Research Council and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology to study gig workers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Reid receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Government of Ontario Early Researcher Award. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Ashford receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology </span></em></p>Gig workers navigate the challenges of solo work by seeking out relationships and cultivating skills to cope with emotional turbulenceBrittany Lambert, Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, Indiana UniversityBrianna Barker Caza, Associate Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – GreensboroErin Reid, Associate professor, Human Resources & Management, McMaster UniversitySusan Ashford, Michael and Susan Jandernoa Professor of Management and Organizations, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1940362023-01-03T13:29:32Z2023-01-03T13:29:32ZAmericans are taking more control over their work lives – because they have to<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498023/original/file-20221129-16-jn8xtb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3782%2C2155&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workers take on side hustles not just for the money, but also to compensate for limited control in their traditional jobs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/florida-miami-beach-uber-ridesharing-service-driver-with-news-photo/1263005033?adppopup=true">Jeff Greenberg via Universal Images Group/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One thing that’s become clear in the past few tumultuous – and for many, traumatic – years is that it’s easy to feel like there is no control in our lives. Control is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1995.tb00501.x">basic psychological need</a> that helps people feel like they have agency, from how they live to where they work. One area where people have tried to wrestle back control is around work. </p>
<p>As a Rice University business school professor and <a href="https://www.scottsonenshein.com/">author</a>, I’ve examined through <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YhjQHhAAAAAJ&hl=en">my research</a>, teaching and readership the complex relationships between employees and their employers for nearly two decades. The aftermath of the pandemic is the latest iteration of a timeless negotiation between labor and management over control that took on added significance these past few years.</p>
<p>The pandemic accelerated a development that began years ago when workers realized they needed to take on more responsibility for directing their careers. This major shift reflects a potentially exciting but also unnerving reality for millions of workers.</p>
<h2>From lifer to independent worker</h2>
<p>For decades, employers had the upper hand in negotiating terms with employees. People exchanged unconditional loyalty to an employer for lifetime employment and a secure retirement. That model <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3324911">started to erode</a> with an increase in <a href="https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2000/pdf/ec000050.pdf">corporate restructuring in the 1980s and 1990s</a>. With the prospects of a secure job and comfortable retirement more elusive, employees switched jobs to regain some control. They sought the promise of a higher salary and a better work life. In the past decade, the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.t01.htm">average tenure at an employer dropped nearly 10%</a>.</p>
<p>During the pandemic, a tight labor market allowed employees <a href="https://theconversation.com/bad-managers-burnout-and-health-fears-why-record-numbers-of-hospitality-workers-are-quitting-the-industry-for-good-174588">to use job mobility</a> to feel <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/24/1007914455/as-the-pandemic-recedes-millions-of-workers-are-saying-i-quit">greater control over their lives</a>. Additionally, the freedoms afforded by remote work offset some of the losses of control caused by the pandemic. But the reality is that while changing jobs leads to a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2005-10696-005">short-term boost in job satisfaction, that feeling is usually only temporary</a>.</p>
<p>In a post-pandemic world, a new model is emerging that reflects concerns of a slowing economy and more uncertain future. Employees are increasingly rejecting the belief that a single job can s<a href="https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/deloitte-2022-genz-millennial-survey.pdf">atisfy all of their financial and psychological needs</a>. Instead, people are turning to building a portfolio of simultaneous roles to create their career. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/10/why-you-should-build-a-career-portfolio-not-a-career-path">“career portfolioing,”</a> employees become free agents, relying increasingly on themselves to carve out a meaningful and rewarding professional life. They put together a mosaic of positions to collectively fulfill their aspirations around income, advancement, skill development and enjoyment. They are no longer subject to a longstanding relationship with a single, lifetime employer, or dependent on a strong job market.</p>
<p>One sign of the rise of career portfolioing is the increase in side hustles. In 2021, 34% of Americans reported having a side hustle, and over <a href="https://zapier.com/blog/side-hustle-report/">60 million people planned to start one</a>. As inflation rose, side hustles provided extra income in the face of soaring prices. But people also turned to side hustles for new learning opportunities (28%) and to find more enjoyable work (38%).</p>
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<p>In research I’ve been conducting on side hustles in the sharing economy, I am finding that many people take these gigs to compensate for limited control in their “traditional” jobs. Although gig work comes with its own set of challenges – lack of benefits is a key one – people feel liberated by greater control over where, when and how they work. Switching on an app shifts allegiance from one company to another. Turning off an app ends the workday in an instant. People rely on side hustles to earn additional income but also because of the freedom that comes from being an independent worker.</p>
<p>Another benefit of portfolioing is hedging risk. Sudden layoffs, such as those recently <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/14/1136659617/tech-layoffs-amazon-meta-twitter">affecting the tech industry</a>, leave people feeling exposed to financial hardship and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(93)90316-V">identity loss from being involuntarily sent to the exit</a>. When facing difficult times at one job, people can turn to other parts of their career portfolio for security and stability.</p>
<h2>Taking action on values</h2>
<p>During the pandemic, people’s sense of mortality increased as the threat of serious illness or even death spread. Such times often prompt a deep reflection on values, including the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000983">purpose of work</a>. When people took stock of their jobs, many did not like what they saw and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000983">quit at record numbers</a>. Or, if they stayed, they increasingly pushed employers to align better with their values. </p>
<p>Historically, business organizations stayed quiet about controversial social issues, such as LGBTQ rights, racial justice and abortion – unless there was a <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/corporations-stay-silent-abortion">very direct profit motive</a>. That’s changed dramatically as employees increasingly <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/01/most-workers-want-their-employer-to-share-their-values.html">demand clarity on company values</a> – and actions to back them up. Sixty percent of workers approve of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/30/workers-eager-to-see-corporate-bosses-speak-out-on-politics.html">business leaders speaking out on social and political issues</a>, and one quarter of respondents to a recent survey reported turning down a job opportunity <a href="https://profilemagazine.com/2022/workers-want-companies-to-speak-out-about-social-issues/">because of a company’s position on social issues</a>. </p>
<p>Employees, too, appear to be more comfortable expressing their views. At the beginning of the century, I conducted <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-00845-004">one of my first research studies</a> on understanding how employees convince their workplaces to take a stance on divisive social issues. I found that employees concealed their values by framing them as economic opportunities. For example, sustainability initiatives around energy efficiency were cast as good for the bottom line.</p>
<p>When I recently <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2019-02020-001">ran a similar study</a>, the dynamics had shifted. Employees were much more willing to talk about moral values and less willing to translate social issues into business issues. Such a dramatic reversal reflects employees’ growing sense of empowerment to make work more aligned with their needs. It’s hard to feel in control of your life if you need to suppress or even contradict deeply held values at a place where you spend most of your waking day.</p>
<h2>A better future for work</h2>
<p>Career portfolioing reflects a future in which uncertainty is too high to rely on a single institution to fulfill basic needs, and a failure of modern work organizations to deliver what employees truly value. </p>
<p>For employees, career portfolioing means more latitude over how their career unfolds. Instead of rising to the next rung of an often pre-defined and inflexible corporate ladder, they might instead think about the next addition to their portfolio, whether starting a new part-time job, taking a new class or pursuing a business idea. Elements of a career portfolio not only get added to produce income or personal growth, but also to support a person’s values. </p>
<p>No doubt, there are potential obstacles. Taking responsibility for a career portfolio requires additional effort. In our book “<a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/marie-kondo/joy-at-work/9781549122552/">Joy at Work</a>,” co-author Marie Kondo and I find that it’s all too easy to take on too many tasks and subsequently burn out. People get trapped into thinking the more they do, the better they’ll feel. Avoiding burnout starts with anchoring a career portfolio based on values and an ideal work life.</p>
<p>For employers, career portfolioing means competing for the full attention of their own workforce. I believe it should prompt a deeper reflection about how to better meet the needs of employees – or else they may leave or <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/398306/quiet-quitting-real.aspx">quiet quit</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Sonenshein does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Career portfolioing’ is a trend where people assemble different sources of income, such as side gigs, to give them a measure of independence from employers who provide little job security.Scott Sonenshein, Professor of Management, Rice UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1947912022-11-30T20:20:14Z2022-11-30T20:20:14ZGig platforms help immigrant care workers find jobs, but they are only a temporary solution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497292/original/file-20221124-14773-ct5knf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C40%2C6659%2C4426&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will precarious alternative forms of work, like gig platform jobs, become the norm for immigrant care workers?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For internationally trained health-care professionals faced with unemployment and underemployment in the Canadian labour market, digital platforms offer the possibility of finding jobs in the industry they are trained in.</p>
<p>Even though Canada is in the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/health-care-labour-shortage-a-long-time-coming-requires-shift-to-team-based-care-1.6055802">midst of a health-care labour shortage</a>, immigrant care workers are struggling to find jobs and are looking for alternative solutions. One of these solutions is gig platforms, where <a href="https://fsc-ccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/A-Typology-of-Gig-Workers-in-Canada-Report-English.pdf">immigrants are over-represented as workers</a>.</p>
<p>Take, for example, a newly arrived nurse from the Phillipines who is awaiting her registered nurse license. Without her license, she is unable to work as a registered nurse, so in the meantime she might pick up a gig from a digital care platform like <a href="https://www.care.com/en-ca/">care.com</a> to care for a client with dementia twice a week.</p>
<p>Many immigrant <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/pandemic-border/platform-care-work-migrant/">care workers turn to these platforms while waiting for accreditation</a> to find meaningful employment. Considering the Canadian <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/how-canada-can-retain-nurses-amid-a-struggling-health-care-system-report-1.6160301">health sector is so chronically short-staffed</a>, this suggests that Canada is struggling to support the integration of immigrant workers into the care sector.</p>
<h2>Canada’s immigrant care professionals</h2>
<p>Immigrant care workers are overwhelmingly represented in Canada’s health-care system. According to Statistics Canada, they make up <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00036-eng.htm">over 40 percent of Ontario’s nurse aides and support workers</a>. </p>
<p>Personal support workers, nurse aides and orderlies are needed to support the dearth of care workers in Canada. But many are facing barriers to obtaining quality occupations in the care industry.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp">Canada’s merit-based point system</a>, which is meant to select immigrants to contribute to the skilled labour market, immigrants often run up against regulatory, employment and policy barriers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-merit-based-immigration-system-is-no-magic-bullet-90923">Canada's merit-based immigration system is no 'magic bullet'</a>
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<p>Some immigrants, for example, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8986690/health-care-crisis-trained-doctors-nurses-licensed/">struggle to get international professional degrees recognized</a> in Canada. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1592397">Other barriers include</a> long wait times from licensing authorities, restrictive testing requirements and a lack of training opportunities.</p>
<p>For immigrant care professionals facing employment barriers, care platforms seemingly offer an opportunity for them to work in their field. But while digital platform work can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X221090248">a stepping-stone for new immigrants in Canada</a>, for some it only offers them a temporary reprieve while they figure out how to find permanent jobs in the health-care industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A nurse in puts on a protective gown, gloves, and mask in a care home" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498047/original/file-20221129-20-it9wkv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A health-care worker puts on protective clothing at a long-term care home in Laval, Que., in February 2022. Gig platforms are only temporary solutions for care workers, who aim to get full-time employment in health care.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>A different type of platform work</h2>
<p>Our forthcoming research in the <em><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjms20/current">Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies</a></em> about platform workers finds that there are two different types of platform work: relational and non-relational. </p>
<p>Digital care platforms are different than casual, one-off gig platforms like ride-hailing or food delivery. These latter forms of work are non-relational, since there is neither a need nor a possibility of relationships forming between customers and service providers. </p>
<p>The immigrants we interviewed found that engagement on digital platform work, like Uber and SkipTheDishes, offered them opportunities to practice their language abilities or expand their networks, but didn’t provide opportunity for deeper relationships. But care or domestic platform work is different. </p>
<p>This is because <a href="https://www.gendereconomy.org/care-work-in-the-recovery-economy-towards-a-caring-economy/">the work of care is innately relational</a> and demands a connection between care workers and receivers. This creates both opportunities and motivation for care workers to engage more deeply with their care recipients, in hopes of cultivating a lasting relationship with regular clients.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A female nurse assists a senior woman in wheelchair. Both are wearing masks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497289/original/file-20221124-24-p0vg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Care work is innately relational and demands a connection between care workers and receivers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Immigrant care workers felt more fulfilled when they were able to find work on platforms that offered relational forms of work. These temporary jobs allowed their professional identity to be formally recognized by performing caring-related tasks. Even if the tasks were below the expertise of the workers, their ability to fulfil them was affirming to their professional identity.</p>
<p>But while digital care platforms might allow immigrants to find work that aligns with their field of expertise, it comes with consequences. Workers on care platforms are <a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/essential-and-untrusted">incentivized to put themselves at risk for their employers</a>, creating a power imbalance between them and the platforms they work for, and between them and care receivers. </p>
<h2>Quality care work is needed</h2>
<p>Policy and regulatory changes are needed to help immigrant care workers find jobs within their field of expertise. In Ontario, for example, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9230441/ontario-nursing-college-allowed-temporary-register-international-nurses/">international nurses are allowed to start practising</a> while they wait for their full registration. Yet, the journey to full credentialing is a long and expensive process. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2022/11/an-immigration-plan-to-grow-the-economy.html">Government of Canada recently announced its new immigration target of welcoming 500,000 new immigrants a year by 2025</a>. Will this new immigration target help address labour shortages in the care sector? It should — the large number of immigrants will surely include highly educated care professionals. But unless barriers to care work are addressed in a timely manner, the care sector labour shortage will persist.</p>
<p>Alternative working arrangements like gig platforms might be a temporary solution, but many care professionals are still unable to put their skills and experience to use in permanent jobs. Canada needs to work with these new immigrants to understand how regulatory barriers can be assuaged. We have to ask: are immigrant care workers able to thrive, or will precarious alternative forms of work, like gig platform jobs, become the norm?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Triandafyllidou receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada as Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration. Research conducted to support this article has benefited from this funding.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Lam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Alternative working arrangements like gig platforms might help immigrant workers find temporary work, but many care professionals are still unable to find permanent jobs in their industry.Laura Lam, PhD candidate, Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of TorontoAnna Triandafyllidou, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1947432022-11-17T05:35:18Z2022-11-17T05:35:18ZDeliveroo’s exit from Australia shows why gig workers need more protection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495759/original/file-20221116-15-8m3al5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1042%2C3955%2C1950&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Deliveroo’s decision to quit the Australian market, after what have been boom times for food delivery platforms, may seem surprising. But the writing has been on the wall for some time.</p>
<p>The British-based platform – one of the first to start operating in Australia – <a href="https://riders.deliveroo.com.au/en/news/20221116">announced yesterday</a> it was going into voluntary administration.</p>
<p>It cited “challenging economic conditions” and an inability to achieve “a sustainable position of leadership in the market” as key reasons for its decision. </p>
<p>Creditors must now await decisions by the appointed administrator, KordaMentha, about how much of the money they are owed will be paid. </p>
<p>Crucially, those potentially out of pocket include up to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-16/deliveroo-enters-voluntary-administration/101661932">15,000 couriers</a> who worked for the platform as independent contractors.</p>
<p>They are not officially employees, so they are not covered by the federal government’s <a href="https://extranet.employment.gov.au/feg%3C/u">Fair Entitlement Guarantee</a>, which ensures workers left in the lurch by an employer declaring insolvency can receive some of their unpaid wages, annual leave and other entitlements. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guilt-shame-dissatisfaction-workers-and-customers-on-the-gig-economy-and-how-to-make-it-better-185502">Guilt, shame, dissatisfaction: workers and customers on the gig economy (and how to make it better)</a>
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<h2>Challenging economic conditions</h2>
<p>Globally, Deliveroo has been exiting countries where it is not in a “sustainable position of leadership” — that is, effectively being one of the two largest players in the food delivery market. </p>
<p>It has already shut its operations in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deliveroo-germany-idUSKCN1V215I">Germany</a> (2019), <a href="https://corporate.deliveroo.co.uk/media/deliveroo-announces-proposal-end-operations-spain/%3C/U">Spain</a> (2021), and <a href="https://corporate.deliveroo.co.uk/media/deliveroo-announces-decision-end-operations-netherlands/%3C/U">the Netherlands</a> (2022). </p>
<p>Deliveroo’s Australian operations were also considered a <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/deliveroo-rises-announcing-exit-australia-033801039.html">drag on the UK company’s stock price</a>. Despite being among the first app-based food delivery platforms in Australia, beginning in 2015, it has not been in a market leading position since 2016-17.</p>
<p>It sought to differentiate itself as a niche player, working only with “high-quality” restaurants while promising quick deliveries to consumer. In Australia, though, this model struggled against competitors delivering from a greater variety of restaurants with more couriers making deliveries.</p>
<h2>Cutthroat market dynamics</h2>
<p>Deliveroo’s exit highlights the cutthroat market dynamics of the on-demand gig economy. </p>
<p>COVID-19 restrictions were a heyday for it and its fellow food delivery platforms (Uber, DoorDash, Foodora and Menulog).</p>
<p>Demand for food deliveries boomed during lockdowns. So did the supply of labour, as those laid off from other jobs — especially temporary migrants excluded from JobKeeper and JobSeeker benefits — sought alternative work. </p>
<p>But profits in boom times aren’t guaranteed to continue. Inflation is hitting consumers’ discretionary spending and the era of “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/18/what-comes-after-easy-money-era-ends-for-cash-burning-tech-companies.html">cheap money</a>” is ending. </p>
<p>Platforms have often had to offer their services at a loss to increase or sustain market share. This is in part because consumers of food delivery services are highly price-sensitive, as our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocm.2020.100254">research has found</a>. </p>
<h2>Greater regulation coming</h2>
<p>Another key local factor likely to have influenced Deliveroo’s decision is the prospect of greater regulation.</p>
<p>The Albanese government has promised to improve conditions for gig workers. This includes <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/Jobs-and-Skills-Summit-Outcomes-Document.pdf">legislation</a> to give the federal industrial relations umpire, the Fair Work Commission, the power to regulate “employee-like” forms of work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australias-gig-workers-may-remain-contractors-under-labor-186197">How Australia's gig workers may remain contractors under Labor</a>
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<p>Currently the commission can only adjudicate on matters affecting employees. The government’s approach is to avoid the seemingly endless classification debates and instead provide all workers with greater protections.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173">An employee, not a contractor: unfair dismissal ruling against Deliveroo is a big deal for Australia's gig workers</a>
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<p>Giving platform workers greater benefits and protections as employee-like workers – in whatever form this takes – will increase costs. But Deliveroo’s exit highlights just why greater protection for workers in the “gig” economy is needed. </p>
<p>It’s now up to the Albanese government to make meaningful, innovative reforms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Veen is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project. He further receives funding from the Australian Research Council in the form a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) for his project entitled 'Algorithmic management and the future of work: lessons from the gig economy.'</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caleb Goods is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Barratt has been awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council to investigate Work Fragmentation and the Gig Economy, commencing in 2023.
Tom Barratt is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project.</span></em></p>Deliveroo says it has been unable to achieve a sustainable position in the Australian market.Alex Veen, Senior Lecturer and DECRA Fellow, University of SydneyCaleb Goods, Senior Lecturer - Management and Organisations, UWA Business School, The University of Western AustraliaTom Barratt, Senior lecturer, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871182022-08-02T20:23:24Z2022-08-02T20:23:24ZThe manipulation of Uber’s public image profoundly impacted the lives of taxi drivers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475754/original/file-20220724-31587-tasl57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6240%2C4156&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uber deliberately positioned itself as a tech company to avoid the regulations of the taxi industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early July, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/uber-files">the leak of 124,000 confidential files from Uber</a> — known as the “Uber Files” — as part of an investigation by <em>The Guardian</em> revealed how the company knowingly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign">flouted laws</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62057321">secretly lobbied governments</a> and embraced a long list of “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-f2971465-73d2-4932-a889-5c63778e273d">dark tricks</a>” and <a href="https://www.latintimes.com/uber-leaks-reveal-ethically-questionable-actions-potentially-illegal-activity-520492">ethically questionable</a> practices as it grew into the tech giant we know today.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uber-files-leaked-documents-reveal-a-strategy-of-chaos-has-anything-changed-186770">The Uber files: leaked documents reveal a strategy of chaos – has anything changed?</a>
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<p>Implicating high-profile government officials, media barons, academics and more, the leak <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/15/the-uber-files-how-the-leak-prompted-outrage-across-the-world">has rightfully triggered outrage</a> and a slew of questions.</p>
<p>It’s crucial to recognize that Uber’s controversial behaviour during its aggressive <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-timeline-parisian-eureka-moment-global-domination">global expansion</a> didn’t just help the company build its global empire. It put taxi drivers’ livelihoods at risk and negatively impacted their lives.</p>
<h2>Enabling Uber</h2>
<p>Our team, consisting of researchers at business schools across Canada, has studied Uber’s expansion into cities during the period covered by the leaked documents that have been <a href="https://www.icij.org/investigations/uber-files/">shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists</a>. </p>
<p>In our published research on Uber’s entry into Toronto from 2013 to 2016, we explain how Uber and other groups manipulated the public perception of both Uber and the taxi industry. Uber’s entry stratified the taxi-driving profession by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12574">materially and symbolically elevating Uber drivers over taxi drivers</a>.</p>
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<img alt="A man driving a car with a passenger in the backseat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Uber portrayed its drivers as part-time workers who made a good income.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>What the Uber Files leak indicates is that the manipulation of Uber’s image at the cost of the taxi industry was due to more than Uber’s lack of decorum and disregard of local laws. It was the product of an ecosystem of actors — including public officials, media and Uber — that allowed Uber to cast a shadow over the taxi industry.</p>
<h2>Tech company</h2>
<p>Our research looked at the dynamics and impact of Uber’s entry into Toronto, including its growing recognition as a tech company and its eventual <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/08/16/toronto-grants-uber-first-ever-canadian-licence-to-operate.html">legalization as a private transportation company</a>. We found that Uber spokespeople, public officials and the media created a categorical distinction by pointing to technology to explain why Uber was not a taxi company, and highlighting differences between the perceived identities of Uber drivers and taxi drivers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-uber-drivers-avoided-and-contributed-to-the-fate-of-taxi-drivers-158339">How Uber drivers avoided — and contributed to — the fate of taxi drivers</a>
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<p>The differences between Uber and taxi drivers were manufactured and didn’t necessarily reflect reality. For example, Uber drivers were constantly described as <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/rise-of-sharing-services-uber-airbnb-points-to-a-precarious-labour-climate/article26968204/">working part-time</a>, as opposed to taxi drivers who drive full-time. But many Uber drivers were often driving full-time, as some Uber drivers we interviewed pointed out:</p>
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<p>The perception that people have is that the Uber drivers are not really — this is not their job. This is just an income, a different type to substitute whatever… I’ve heard that a lot of people are doing this full-time.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, although Uber drivers were often portrayed in the media as <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/summer-of-uber-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-upstart-ride-sharing-service">making more than taxi drivers</a>, the leaked documents show that Uber’s leadership knew that Uber drivers’ earnings sometimes <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2022/07/10/uber-files-reveal-playbook-that-fueled-ride-share-firms-rise.html">fell below minimum wage</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/taxi-driver-compensation-for-uber-is-unfair-and-poorly-implemented-64354">Taxi driver compensation for Uber is unfair and poorly implemented</a>
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<p>Such portrayed differences had profound effects on the lives of Uber and taxi drivers, serving as foundational building blocks in the construction of a positive image for Uber drivers and a negative image of taxi drivers during Uber’s very public expansion.</p>
<p>Uber’s categorization as a technology company paved the way for them to operate on their own terms and the eventual creation of a new set of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/07/15/dont-close-the-uber-files-this-story-is-not-over-in-toronto.html">favourable bylaws</a> that gave them a competitive advantage over the highly regulated taxi industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of BECK TAXIS" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Toronto, Ont., Uber drivers and taxi drivers were pitted against each other in the media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Public polarization</h2>
<p>When Uber entered Toronto, Uber drivers and taxi drivers were polarized in the mainstream discourse and portrayed as being at war with each other. Yet taxi drivers were often portrayed as the bad guys losing every battle, as an article in <em>The National Post</em> illustrates: “taxi drivers are losing the PR war: <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/robyn-urback-protesting-taxi-drivers-expedite-their-own-demise">it’s impossible to sympathize with people who are acting like thugs</a>.”</p>
<p>Uber’s aggressive tactics received some negative coverage, but there was a distinctively positive sentiment associated with Uber.</p>
<p>As we interviewed taxi drivers, it was apparent that they were frustrated. All they wanted was for Uber to play by the rules and for the city to hold Uber to the same standards as taxis. In their minds, the city was letting “<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/09/09/toronto-city-staff-open-door-to-legalizing-uberx.html">an unfair two-tier system</a>” emerge, allowing Uber to put taxi drivers’ livelihoods at risk.</p>
<h2>Supported manipulation</h2>
<p>In Toronto, the rise of Uber at the cost of taxis was partly the result of actions by various groups, and not a singular concerted effort by Uber.</p>
<p>Journalists around the world, including in Toronto, have reported on how the leaked data reveals how <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/07/10/uber-courted-politicians-to-help-it-expand-worldwide-despite-other-than-legal-status-leaked-docs-reportedly-show/">Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting</a> key and powerful members of society.</p>
<p>Globally, attention has fallen on how Emmanuel Macron, then France’s economy minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/emmanuel-macron-secretly-aided-uber-lobbying-drive-france-leak-reveals">aided Uber by brokering a secret deal</a>. Documents also reportedly show that in France, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/12/uber-paid-academics-six-figure-sums-for-research-to-feed-to-the-media">Uber paid academics six-figure sums for research to feed to the media</a>” as a part of Uber’s overall strategy to target academics and think tanks to “help it construct a positive narrative” and lobby for favourable conditions and rules.</p>
<p>It has also been reported that Uber’s policy team worked to secure an “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/uber-ride-hailing-ijic-1.6514563">extremely positive response</a>” from the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/07/13/toronto-mayor-rejects-allegations-of-improper-links-between-his-office-and-uber.html">City of Toronto</a>.</p>
<p>The leaked documents also show how the strategic construction of Uber’s categorization and Uber drivers’ perceived identities was <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2022/07/10/uber-files-reveal-playbook-that-fueled-ride-share-firms-rise.html">central to Uber’s business</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, what happened in Toronto — Uber’s celebrated rise and eventual codification into local bylaws — shows us that Uber’s success in constructing its desired image was supported in part by the actions of public officials and media. Unfortunately, that image separated Uber drivers from taxi drivers, despite the two groups fundamentally having the same job. All this fuelled a whirlwind of developments that have profoundly impacted the lives of taxi drivers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kam Phung has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luciana Turchick Hakak has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Toubiana has received funding from from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trish Ruebottom receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Buchanan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Uber Files leak reveals that the company embarked on a deliberate public relations strategy that involved the media, public officials and academics.Kam Phung, Assistant Professor of Business & Society, Simon Fraser UniversityLuciana Turchick Hakak, Assistant Professor, Organizational Behaviour, University of The Fraser ValleyMadeline Toubiana, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Organization, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaSean Buchanan, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, University of ManitobaTrish Ruebottom, Associate Professor of HR and Management, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1859602022-07-18T04:07:35Z2022-07-18T04:07:35Z‘A weird dinging sound that everyone dreads’: what rapid deliveries mean for supermarket workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474476/original/file-20220718-12-iehrty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=500%2C0%2C1133%2C895&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Woolworths</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Online grocery shopping has boomed since the pandemic began in 2020, with Woolworths and Coles steadily expanding their home-delivery offerings. Rapid delivery is the latest frontier.</p>
<p>Woolworths and Coles Express have been offering on-demand deliveries through UberEats and Doordash since last year. Woolworths recently launched the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/woolworths-offers-rapid-deliveries-for-5-via-new-metro60-app-20220623-p5aw7p.html">Metro60 app</a> which promises home delivery within an hour to select suburbs.</p>
<p>These arrangements have received little fanfare, yet they signal a significant shift for supermarket workers. </p>
<p>As part of ongoing research, I study how the gig economy is transforming conditions of work within traditional employment. To find out how interacting with delivery platforms affects supermarket employees, I interviewed 16 experienced “personal shoppers” at Woolworths and Coles who fill delivery orders from supermarket shelves.</p>
<h2>The labour of on-demand grocery</h2>
<p>In supermarkets that offer on-demand home delivery, the work of the personal shopper takes on a faster pace. For Woolworths employees, for instance, an UberEats order can drop in at any time, setting off an alarm until the order is accepted and picking begins. As one personal shopper explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We get this weird dinging sound that everyone dreads. You have to pick that order within the half hour or within the hour … it can drop in at any time. So if you’re sitting there having lunch for an hour, you still have to go do it because you’ve got that KPI to hit.</p>
<p>All the (scanner) guns in the store drop that sound. So it reverberates through the store. The customers can’t hear it because they don’t know what it is. But all of us know what it is.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Serving up urgent orders to couriers from gig economy platforms like DoorDash and UberEats has a significant impact on supermarket workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DoorDash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The on-demand orders must be prioritised alongside existing orders, requiring the personal shopper to juggle competing time crunches simultaneously. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s urgent, and they just pop out of nowhere. So you don’t really know when they’re coming until they’re there. It’s super stressful. I dislike them immensely.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Enter the gig worker</h2>
<p>Once the order is picked from the supermarket aisles, the employee hands it over to a gig worker for home delivery. Supermarket staff say their interactions are brief and often impersonal. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s a complete mess. You have no idea who’s coming to pick up these things. And it’s just people showing up with their headphones in showing you that they’ve got this order on their phone. There’s no real rhyme or reason to any of it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For supermarket workers, gig workers are neither colleagues nor customers, yet they play an essential role in home delivery and customer service. </p>
<p>When things go awry, however – such as a missing bag or broken eggs – it’s the supermarket staff who field those complaints. Similarly, when personal shoppers run behind schedule it has punitive flow-on effects for gig workers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coles-and-woolworths-are-moving-to-robot-warehouses-and-on-demand-labour-as-home-deliveries-soar-166556">Coles and Woolworths are moving to robot warehouses and on-demand labour as home deliveries soar</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The on-demand model may, by design or otherwise, pit two groups of workers against each other, fostering frustrations at both ends. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most of the time they’re pretty good. They deal with it. It’s just those bad times where we might be behind and then they don’t deal with it very well.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A new labour regime</h2>
<p>At first glance the partnerships between supermarkets and gig economy platforms look like the supermarket is outsourcing the work of delivery. </p>
<p>But this is a simplification: in fact, the traditional companies are bringing the precarious and on-demand labour of the gig workers inside their own firm, and making it legitimate through formal partnerships. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ‘dedicated team’ behind Woolworth’s Metro60 app includes traditionally employed staff and gig workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metro60.com.au/">Woolworths</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do supermarket employees view on-demand grocery?</h2>
<p>Most personal shoppers I spoke with are ambivalent or wary of the expanding on-demand services.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The people that I work with either love it or hate it. They like it because it’s different, you never get bored, and you’ve always got something to do. But that’s why other people hate it. Because you don’t get a chance to just stand for a second, you always have to be doing something.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some enjoy the fast pace and express satisfaction in meeting targets and making the customer happy. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’ve all gotten to the point now where we’re attuned, we hear the chime, we know what actions we need to take. So it almost happens autonomously. And before you know it, here comes another one and you just keep going.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others expressed concerns about burnout, unpredictable workloads and an increasing pace of work. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s obviously a very high-demand, high-speed job. That’s probably the biggest frustration. We also have pick rates, essentially like Amazon, where we get told this is how many items we should average an hour … and a lot of the time people can’t meet the average.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guilt-shame-dissatisfaction-workers-and-customers-on-the-gig-economy-and-how-to-make-it-better-185502">Guilt, shame, dissatisfaction: workers and customers on the gig economy (and how to make it better)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Staff who have been in the role more than a decade have seen the pace of work speed up significantly during their tenure, and are more critical. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’re not a person when you walk in the door, you’re a machine. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some expressed broader concerns about the possibility of their role being taken over entirely by the gig economy. In the words of one shopper:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was a little dismayed when the whole DoorDashing started because it’s like, oh no, the gig economy is getting closer and closer. Gig stuff always … makes me uncomfortable … It’s all this whole long-term ploy to destroy some existing industry or place, or eliminate worker protections. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another expressed a similar sentiment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My biggest worry is that they start outsourcing the actual shopping procedure. I think that would be the next logical step similar to what America has with Instacart.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Supermarket jobs of the future</h2>
<p>All the personal shoppers I spoke with shared a pride in their work and their deep knowledge of the supermarket and its local community. How the role continues to evolve through partnerships with the gig economy is not inevitable but a matter of choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Kelly receives funding from the Australian Research Council for PhD research on which this article is based. Lauren Kelly works with United Workers Union which has members in the supermarket supply chain.</span></em></p>As Coles and Woolworth turn to UberEats and DoorDash for fast deliveries, supermarket workers feel ‘the gig economy is getting closer’.Lauren Kate Kelly, PhD Candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855022022-07-12T20:03:51Z2022-07-12T20:03:51ZGuilt, shame, dissatisfaction: workers and customers on the gig economy (and how to make it better)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469962/original/file-20220621-25-bx024p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4861%2C2714&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The gig economy is in trouble. Rideshare drivers are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/uber-cancellations-queensland-fuel-price-rise/101197684">cancelling in droves</a>. Wait times for food delivery are <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/why-is-your-uber-eats-order-taking-so-long-to-arrive-20211111-p59824.html">ballooning out</a> and driver shortages are leading to <a href="https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/uber-eats-driver-shortage-leads-to-widespread-food-waste-and-staff-abuse-20210723-h1xclf">food waste</a>.</p>
<p>So, what’s going on? To find out more, I interviewed 30 Melbourne gig workers who worked as rideshare drivers, food deliverers or for task-based platforms such as Airtasker. </p>
<p>I also spoke to 30 customers who use such services, and to 20 industry stakeholders. My colleague, Elizabeth Straughan from the University of Melbourne, conducted a further ten interviews with gig workers after the pandemic set in, to learn how they’d been affected. </p>
<p>Our five years of <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c47b0bc29711455c397bb7e/t/62c0ef6ad4a49d09eb53450d/1656811386720/GigCities-ResearchReport-v2+-+ebook.pdf">research</a> reveals an industry facing pushback from both workers and customers. Many workers we spoke to sought to leave the gig economy. </p>
<p>Customers, meanwhile, often have complicated feelings – including guilt and shame – about using rideshare or food delivery services that rely on gig economy workers. Many have already quit them. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many workers told researchers they are keen to leave the gig economy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-onto-the-wait-list-is-a-battle-in-itself-insiders-on-what-it-takes-to-get-social-housing-184838">'Getting onto the wait list is a battle in itself': insiders on what it takes to get social housing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘It just felt really entitled and selfish’</h2>
<p>One of our customer interviewees, “Mel” (all names are pseudonyms), reported feeling uneasy about food delivery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It just felt really entitled and selfish and gluttonous and ashamed. So, I wouldn’t want people to see me doing it and then I’d close the door and it’d be my secret thing inside […] the packaging made me feel I want to cry because there was so much of it […] so much guilt.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mel also worried she was robbing herself of skills such as food preparation or interacting with real people when ordering and collecting food herself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s teaching me helplessness.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others lamented poor service. Khalid said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s kind of lost the sense of quality and customer service that they used to have that I really enjoyed […] it got to the point where, say I’d order twice in one week, both orders would come, and they’d be cold. Basically inedible. The drivers would literally have no idea where they’re going.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His household has since vowed not to use food delivery services.</p>
<p>Another customer, Li, found she was spending too much on food delivery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are times where I used it for like breakfast, lunch and dinner and I was spending like almost A$200 a day on it […] I stopped it and started cooking for myself now.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She’s also cut back on ordering rideshares, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s so much better to walk, because there’s so many things going on that you miss from a car.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some customers reported having complex feelings about using delivery services reliant on gig economy workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Workers looking for the exit</h2>
<p>Many workers we interviewed said they’re looking to exit the gig economy.</p>
<p>James does rideshare and delivery work, but admits to feeling ashamed about it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I actually don’t share with too many people that I’m doing rideshare. To most people, I just say ‘I’ve just stopped working’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lui does food delivery on a bike most nights. It’s punishing, low-paid, and he only drinks one glass of water so he doesn’t have to return home to use the bathroom. He told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the future, I still have to get a full-time secure job because this delivery job is not enough for me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lui said he will leave this work off his CV.</p>
<p>Vijay, who has experienced racist abuse as a rideshare driver, says he’s also looking to get out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no money in Uber anymore […] I’m desperately looking for work, to just jump into something else.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The COVID-induced slowdown on migration has reduced the pool of gig workers to replace those leaving the industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recommendations for policymakers, customers, platforms and gig workers</h2>
<p>The gig economy is facing twin challenges: cost-of-living pressures are forcing customers to cut costs, while the COVID-induced slowdown on migration has reduced the pool of gig workers to replace those leaving the industry. </p>
<p>Platform companies are constantly <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0042098017751982">adapting</a> the way they work, but, as our research shows, many workers and customers are growing tired of the gig economy. </p>
<p>Our report made several recommendations to a range of different stakeholders.</p>
<p>Our recommendations for policymakers include:</p>
<ul>
<li>enhance oversight and regulation of platform companies by ensuring these workers are recognised as employees</li>
<li>invest in ways to help people working in industries being displaced
by platform-based gig work to transition to new training and employment opportunities</li>
<li>continue to invest in public transport, a vital public good for the future of cities; rideshare is not a sustainable or socially just replacement for public transport</li>
<li>provide adequate facilities in urban centres for food delivery riders and rideshare drivers to wait between gigs</li>
<li>raise public awareness of the hardships faced by many gig workers</li>
<li>apply tougher penalties for abusive behaviour towards gig workers.</li>
</ul>
<p>Platform companies should:</p>
<ul>
<li>offer fairer and more consistent rates of pay</li>
<li>provide paid training for workers on how to better deal with challenging interpersonal situations</li>
<li>better assist workers who have been abused by customers or involved in accidents</li>
<li>organise social events connecting workers and make them feel part of a valued community.</li>
</ul>
<p>Customers should:</p>
<ul>
<li>always treat gig workers with courtesy and respect – even small kind gestures
can significantly improve their well-being</li>
<li>consider how the use of gig work platforms might reduce the viability of similar established services</li>
<li>tip gig workers, until regulation improves their pay</li>
<li>choose more socially progressive options, such as platform cooperatives, where they exist.</li>
</ul>
<p>We recommended gig workers:</p>
<ul>
<li>recognise the transferable “soft skills” they’ve developed doing gig work</li>
<li>connect with other workers to foster a sense of collective endeavour and belonging</li>
<li>work together to bring about positive change in the regulation of gig work.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-up-in-a-disadvantaged-neighbourhood-can-change-kids-brains-and-their-reactions-184145">Growing up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood can change kids' brains – and their reactions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185502/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bissell receives funding from the Australian Research Council. This article is part of The Conversation's Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. The series is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
</span></em></p>Our five years of research reveals an industry facing push back from both workers and customers. Many workers we spoke with sought to leave the gig economy.David Bissell, Associate Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1834962022-07-05T19:10:16Z2022-07-05T19:10:16ZDelay and deflect: How women gig workers respond to sexual harassment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468473/original/file-20220613-26-rnp35x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5727%2C3778&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Service provider apps are set up in ways that endanger gig workers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, we use apps to order food, call ride-sharing vehicles, assign home improvement tasks and personal errands. But these apps depend on people to deliver the promised service — to deliver food, provide rides and complete tasks. These gig workers use the apps to find work, and in North America, <a href="https://teamstage.io/gig-economy-statistics/">nearly half of these service workers are women</a>.</p>
<p>Platforms that provide gig services use powerful algorithms, artificial intelligence and big data to provide access for millions of gig workers and customers. That was <a href="https://www.citivelocity.com/citigps/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Uber_Drivers_of_Disruption.pd_.pdf">how these platforms were able to disrupt established industries</a>, like taxi and delivery services.</p>
<p>However, women gig workers deal with bias and harassment in the workplace. Women Uber drivers, for instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa081">earn less</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3359319">feel unsafe</a> and <a href="http://lerachapters.org/OJS/ojs-2.4.4-1/index.php/PFL/article/view/3263">experience unwanted advances and sexual assaults</a>.</p>
<h2>Feeling unsafe and powerless</h2>
<p>Gig workers are rated for their performance on the platforms they use to provide the service. We interviewed 20 women gig workers and found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517524">that women gig workers experience harassment on the job, and develop response mechanisms to protect their ratings and future work opportunities</a>.</p>
<p>Women drivers felt that they faced more scrutiny from customers regarding their driving skills and how they were dressed, and this sometimes affected their ratings. Some women workers noted that they did not enjoy driving passengers because they felt unsafe and judged.</p>
<p>Women drivers had to deal with unwanted sexual comments and behaviours from customers, and considered this to be part of the job. To reduce their risk of harassment, women would be more selective of when and where they would work, which further worsened the pay gap because they would miss out on prime earning opportunities, such as weekends and evening hours.</p>
<p>Gig platforms prioritize assigning jobs to drivers with higher ratings, which prevented women drivers from confronting customers who made them feel uncomfortable. Prioritizing customer satisfaction comes at the expense of women workers’ safety and well-being. The design of the apps currently allows drivers to be harassed with impunity.</p>
<p>The platforms fail to enforce effective harassment prevention policies to their rating, matching and recommendation features.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luh0kYJrvKA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Reshaping Work looks at the women in the gig economy.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Complicit platforms</h2>
<p>Our research found that in response to the harassment, women gig workers would “brush off” harassment because they were concerned about how the customer would rate them. Jennifer (all names used are pseudonyms), an Uber driver, said: “Is it worth it? Is it worth your life to speak up right now? And most of the time it’s not, so you just don’t.”</p>
<p>Due to concerns about the immediate threat and rating retaliation, the women workers we interviewed found it difficult to stand up for themselves in the moment. They hesitate reporting these encounters because the recourse process is time-consuming and difficult.</p>
<p>The only option left for them is to let the harassers get away with bad behaviours. To de-escalate potentially dangerous situations, the women laugh off the remarks or play along. Annette, an Uber driver, called this tactic “delay and deflect.”</p>
<p>Another gig worker, Penny, told us: “It bothers me, yes. I have a choice of losing it and getting angry and taking time to gather myself to the point where I can work again, or I can take a different route and just realize OK, you got this person here for five minutes and then they’re getting out of your car and you will never see them again.”</p>
<p>And Jennifer explained how the platform’s rating mechanism is complicit because in “certain situations, it’s just not worth standing up for yourself because if you do, and they give you a bad rating, it’s not like Uber reaches out to you to get clarification on the issue.”</p>
<h2>Invaluable assets</h2>
<p>Women workers are invaluable assets to the gig ecosystem. For instance, women passengers feel more comfortable when the driver is another woman. One driver told us that “[women passengers] are so creeped out by who the drivers are. [Passengers tell me] ‘Thank God, Tiffany, you’re driving me home.’”</p>
<p>Some platforms have implemented panic buttons that can dial 911 in an emergency, but this measure misses the point that an overwhelming amount of harassment encounters are more subtle, and not all of them are physical. Involving law enforcement could potentially escalate a situation that could place the women in danger or waste valuable money-making time.</p>
<p>Ella, who completes tasks like assembling furniture and home repair, shared that more than 90 per cent of her customers are women. She speculates this is because she herself is a woman.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman in a mask wearing a blue shirt puts together furniture" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women taskers — gig workers who complete home-based tasks — are popular on apps like TaskRabbit because other women feel more comfortable hiring them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The platforms do not explicitly discriminate against women workers, but they ignore both the gendered reality of women’s experiences and the advantages women workers bring. Our research highlights the gender-insensitive design of gig platforms by illustrating the platform’s inaction and failure to account for women’s lived experiences.</p>
<p>Ratings are an insufficient and lazy way of quality control that shifts the balance of control to the customer. Gig platforms need to address the limits of rating and rewards systems that further marginalize women. Current rating systems give disproportionate power to customers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.18420/ecscw2017-27">which leads to more biased results for women workers</a>. </p>
<h2>Safety for everyone</h2>
<p>Platforms need to consider gender when designing their features and systems. They can start by listening to women. For example, <a href="https://trips4w.com/">Trips4Women</a> is a women-only ride-sharing platform.</p>
<p>Further, platforms can provide safe spaces for women workers, such as designating public rest areas and partnering with commercial locations to identify worker-friendly washroom and rest facilities.</p>
<p>Both customers and gig platforms benefit when women workers thrive. Supporting women does not come at the cost of alienating other workers. To the contrary, supporting women workers will inevitably benefit workers overall by providing a safe and secure work environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rating services on ride and task apps disadvantage gig workers, whose future work assignments are affected by their ratings. Women workers are made vulnerable, and have to contend with harassment.Ning Ma, Postdoctoral Researcher, Computer Science, University of British ColumbiaDongwook Yoon, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1861972022-07-04T20:00:51Z2022-07-04T20:00:51ZHow Australia’s gig workers may remain contractors under Labor<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472200/original/file-20220704-14-mlut8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5354%2C2677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Uber Australia’s historic <a href="https://www.twu.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Statement-of-Principles-28-June-2022.pdf">agreement</a> with the Transport Workers’ Union, on the need to regulate the gig economy, is the first step in fundamental reform of gig work. It suggests the direction the Albanese government will to take to deliver better conditions for gig workers. </p>
<p>The “statement of principles” agreed to between Uber and the union supports “regulatory certainty for platforms” and “minimum benefits and standards for platform workers who aren’t engaged as employees”. It does not agree that gig workers should be classified as employees instead of independent contractors. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-ubers-historic-agreement-with-the-twu-on-gig-work-186044">What's driving Uber's historic agreement with the TWU on gig work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The response of federal workplace relations minister Tony Burke to <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/burke/important-step-rights-gig-workers">the agreement</a> suggests the government will take the same route – not changing the classification of gig workers but giving the federal industrial relations umpire, the Fair Work Commission, the power to set minimum standards for any workers in designated sectors.</p>
<p>A precedent for this approach comes from <a href="https://www.ntc.gov.au/sites/default/files/assets/files/Safe-payments-report-October-2008.pdf">New South Wales provisions</a> enabling regulation of payments to owner-drivers of trucks. Those provisions have been in place for more than 40 years, and have inspired the proposal <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/95479">before the Queensland parliament</a> to regulate the work of independent courier drivers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-definition-of-worker-could-protect-many-from-exploitation-91083">A new definition of 'worker' could protect many from exploitation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Leaving gig workers as contractors</h2>
<p>There are good reasons to aim to regulate gig economy workers as contractors, rather than attempting to bring them under the umbrella of being employees.</p>
<p>Yes, their relationship with platforms can look an awful lot like an employment relationship – hence the reason for <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173">court cases</a> supported by the Transport Workers’ Union seeking to have gig workers deemed employees.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173">An employee, not a contractor: unfair dismissal ruling against Deliveroo is a big deal for Australia's gig workers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test">saying goes</a>, if it looks, swims and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. </p>
<p>But the outcome of trying to define gig workers as employees has been mixed. Around the world these attempts have sometimes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/10/pimlico-loses-appeal-against-plumbers-worker-status-in-gig-economy-case">succeeded</a>, <a href="https://btlaw.com/insights/blogs/currents/2018/philadelphia-u-s-district-court-determines-uber-drivers-are-independent-contractors">sometimes not</a>. </p>
<h2>Roadblocks to becoming employees</h2>
<p>Platform companies have worked against these attempts, leveraging the fact quite a number of gig workers like to imagine themselves as <a href="https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/to-gig-or-not-to-gig_2017-stories-from-the-modern-economy_tcm18-18955.pdf">independent</a>, self-employed people, as well as customers’ preference for cheap services. </p>
<p>The best (but not only) example is their success against California’s <a href="https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/ab5-regulating-the-gig-economy-is-good-for-workers-and-democracy/">AB5</a> law, passed in 2019, that tightened the rules for companies to hire workers as independent contractors. </p>
<p>Uber and rival Lyft first <a href="https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/08/california-gig-work-ab5-prop-22/">threatened to suspend operations</a> in California rather than comply with the law. They then teamed up with other platform companies such as DoorDash and spent a reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/12/uber-prop-22-law-drivers-ab5-gig-workers">US$200 million</a> in 2020 to secure and a win a “ballot proposal” (known as Proposition 22) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html">exempting</a> app-based transportation and delivery companies from the new law. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Workers rally in August 2019 in support of California's proposed AB5 law to stop companies categorise workers as independent contractors. The law was passed, but Uber and other platform companies bankrolled a successful attempt in 2020 to be exempt from t" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workers rally in August 2019 in support of California’s proposed AB5 law to stop companies categorise workers as independent contractors. The law was passed, but Uber and other platform companies bankrolled a successful attempt in 2020 to be exempt from the law.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rich Pedroncelli/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A Californian court has since found <a href="https://www.nelp.org/blog/prop-22-unconstitutional/">Proposition 22 unconstitutional</a>, but it remains in place pending an appeal.</p>
<p>Even when a rule is devised to interpret the contracts that gig workers sign as employment contracts, gig companies could <a href="https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/industrial-relations/uber-eats-announces-new-business-model-and-contracts-for-riders/245068">amend their contracts</a> to get around that.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/redefining-workers-in-the-platform-economy-lessons-from-the-foodora-bunfight-107369">Redefining workers in the platform economy: lessons from the Foodora bunfight</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But in the end, a company such as Uber will adhere, grudgingly, to most standards that are imposed on it — other than defining its workers as employees. Thus it has accepted <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/montreal/get-started/training-requirement/">training requirements in Quebec</a> (after first <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/article/14652/uber-threatens-to-leave-quebec-over-new-driver-training-requirements">threatening to quit</a> the Canadian province), <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2016/08/gov_charlie_baker_signs_law_regulating_uber_and_lyft_in_massachusetts.html">fare regulation in Massachusetts</a> and driver accreditation requirements in <a href="https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/newsroom-and-events/media-releases/transport-for-nsw-statement-regarding-ride-sharing-apps">several</a> <a href="https://www.intellinews.com/uber-reaches-agreement-with-the-czech-government-138071/">jurisdictions</a>. </p>
<h2>Regulating contractors as contractors</h2>
<p>Regulating gig work without redefining gig workers as employees is not just politically easier, and hence more sustainable. It is also more effective policy. </p>
<p>It enables regulation to be <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/405187/Peetz498000-Accepted.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y">tailored to circumstances</a>. For example it may mean applying an hourly wage rate in one sector, and a piece rate of some sort in another.</p>
<p>For example, a New York state inquiry into how to regulate passenger transport came up with an amount expressed like taxi charges – that is, dollars per kilometre travelled – drivers needed to be paid to earn the <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/judge-rules-lyft-must-york-rules-driver-minimum-010416081.html">equivalent of the state’s minimum wage</a> (taking into account waiting times, average speeds and so on). </p>
<p>Different panels of the Fair Work Commission could determine different forms of gig economy regulation for different industries. </p>
<p>Legislation does not need to specify how regulation should be expressed. It just needs to make sure that the Commission has all the power it needs, to regulate in whatever way it sees fit.</p>
<h2>Levelling the playing field</h2>
<p>The Transport Workers’ Union – which has a number of former officials in the Albanese government – has a long history of successfully promoting regulation of safety conditions for independent contractors (such as truck owner-drivers) without rebadging workers as employees. </p>
<p>In the 1970s, for example, it persuaded the Wran government in NSW to introduce amendments to the NSW Industrial Relations Act that have made roads safer. </p>
<p>The Albanese government does not need to legislate specific regulation. It just needs give the Fair Work Commission the power it needs to regulate in whatever way it sees fit, setting a minimum hourly rate or something else.</p>
<p>The law must also direct the commission to set minimum standards in a way that ensures gig workers are paid as much as comparable award-covered employees, taking account of expenses. (Contractors often pay for costs that, if they were employees, would be covered by their employer.) This sort of direction is important to ensure neutrality between the costs of using employees or contractors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As a university employee, David Peetz undertook research over many years with occasional financial support from governments from both sides of politics, employers and unions. He has been and is involved in several Australian Research Council-funded and approved projects. He was an adviser to the inquiry that led to the Queensland legislation that is referred to in the fourth paragraph of this article. However, he has no financial interest in any other aspect of this article.</span></em></p>Uber Australia’s deal with the transport workers union signals the Albanese government won’t mess about with attempts to reclassify gig workers as employees.David Peetz, Professor Emeritus, Griffith Business School, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.