For years now ride-sharing app and technology company Uber has been in the headlines for its abysmal labor practices. These include algorithmic management practices which surveil workers and constrict their decision-making power; and its classification of its workers as independent contractors or self-employed rather than employees.

As the company goes public today, drivers will be out on strike across the globe. With this work stoppage drivers are demanding a say in how Uber works, a pay raise, and above all being recognized as employees.

Thus, today’s strike reflects the emergence of a collective consciousness among drivers which would have been impossible even a few years ago. Moreover, it underlines the double-edged nature of contemporary employment relations and the way they employ technology. By classifying workers as “self-employed” or “independent contractors,” Uber has created the conditions in which these groups of workers once again want to be counted as workers. Historically such struggles for recognition have been the basis for broader social and economic struggles which brought about the eight-hour day, the right to vote, and the welfare state.