Which Side Are They On?
A titanic struggle is brewing in California between Silicon Valley capitalists and workers. Democratic Party elites will have to pick a side.
289 Search Results for: gig economy
Hours Before Planned Capital Strike, Court Grants Uber and Lyft a Reprieve
Last week, Uber and Lyft were ordered to stop misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors. They’ve once again gotten out of doing so, granted a reprieve today by a judge in the face of the companies’ threatened capital strike.
We’re Being Worked to Death by Capital
Long working hours kill more than 700,000 people per year, even as millions are unable to find enough work to survive. The irrationality of capitalism has a human price.
Joe Biden’s New Communications Director Made Millions in Corporate Consulting
Before being tapped to become Joe Biden's new communications director, political advisor Ben LaBolt made a pretty penny in corporate consulting — and many of his former clients have obvious interests in White House policy decisions today.
Logged In
The new economy makes it harder than ever to untangle capitalism from our daily lives.
Harvard Wants to Save the Working Class
The burning task for the labor movement isn't to craft new pro-worker laws, but to build working-class power. Pro-worker legislation comes from workers flexing their muscles, not the other way around.
#DeleteUber for Good
Uber is rotten to its core. Despite the years of terrible press, it has not changed any of its anti-worker, profit-crazed ways. Uber should be abolished.
The Coronavirus Crisis Is Political
In 2008, they told us not to “politicize” the crash. We ended up with a decade of austerity. The coronavirus crisis will reshape the economy in profound ways — now is the time to make socialist arguments about how to respond.
The 21st-Century Road to Serfdom Runs Through Silicon Valley
The danger posed by California’s Proposition 22, the tech-backed ballot measure that dismantles existing labor protections for gig workers, isn’t just about low wages and poor working conditions. It signals the creation of an entirely new kind of servant class.
Airbnb Was Supposed to Save Capitalism. Instead, It Just Devolved Into Garbage.
In the early days of Airbnb, many predicted that the company and other sharing economy platforms would “disrupt” capitalism as usual, finally making it work for all stakeholders. But that’s not what happened. Instead, it got us all hooked and then got worse.
A Shit Job for One Is a Shit Job for All
Last week’s passage of a bill in the California state legislature ending the rampant misclassification of workers as independent contractors was a huge win. The bill was animated by the spirit of unions fighting for the entire working class — the exact principle that should animate all unions.
At Kroger and Amazon, Capital Is Going on the Offensive
Some of the country’s most profitable companies, like Kroger and Amazon, have been escalating their hardball tactics against workers. Flush with cash, they’re more confident than ever — and they’re doing whatever they want.
Not All Labor Law Reforms Are Created Equal
Two major pieces of labor law legislation, both rooted in the concept of “sectoral bargaining,” are now being weighed in California and New York. California’s would represent a genuine advance for low-wage workers; New York’s would be a disaster.
Slumming It
The BBC reality show Victorian Slum House demonstrates just how far our society has slid back into Dickensian misery.
Buying the Tory Party
The recent Tory Party conference featured a perp walk of corporate ghouls — from public service privatizers to gig economy scammers and arms industry lobbyists — rubbing shoulders with government ministers.
Americans Work Too Damn Much
Workers in the United States have lost control of perhaps the most important aspect of their lives: their time. Getting that time back is crucial — for workers’ well-being, for democracy, and for weakening the tyrannical power of the boss.
Avocado Toasts for All
The recent tendency to boil class down to consumption habits and taste in food is tiresome and unsound.
Exploitation Isn’t the Only Thing Wrong With Work
Many people’s social status and identity are intimately bound up with the jobs they do. That’s not just pernicious capitalist ideology, Ruth Dukes and Wolfgang Streeck argue: it can offer the basis for worker resistance to the power of employers.
App-Based Corporations Can’t Just Ignore Labor Law
From today, food platforms in Spain will have to recognize delivery riders as workers, not bogus self-employed contractors. But businesses are already defying the law — showing the need to break corporate control over the sector as a whole.
Platform Capitalists Are Turning Customers Into Managers in Disguise
From customer review platforms like Yelp and Ziosk to the ratings prompts built into gig-work apps like Uber and DoorDash, consumers are increasingly encouraged to monitor and assess workers. That’s free managerial labor for capitalists.