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On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ Donate Subscribe On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect manager called each of the drivers regularly, Kalanick said, "to get their feedback and make sure ! things were working well." Menu DAY ONE AGENDA LAW AND JUSTICE MONEY, POLITICS AND POWER HEALTH AND SOCIAL POLICY HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION ECONOMIC POLICY Nowadays, Uber has far more than a handful of CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA drivers-it has more than 400,000 in the United States alone, and many drivers complain that ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT WORKING IN AMERICA THE PROSPECT ARCHIVE Uber's managers no longer listen to them to make AMERICA AND THE WORLD POLITICS https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ sure things are working well. "They do whatever they want," said Bigu Haider, an Uber driver in GREEN NEW DEAL TAKE BACK OUR PARTY New York who is furious at Uber over fare cuts and other moves that have reduced his income. "I don't see any voice for the drivers." Home / Working in America / On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights Such heartfelt complaints are heard across much of the digital on-demand economy, whether at Mechanical Turk, TaskRabbit, Lyft, or Instacart. The internet is crackling with gig workers' complaints about sub-minimum wages, 12-hour workdays, and companies that stiff them on pay. Gig workers in the Uber economy are organizing to win more say Within these tales of woe is a frequent refrain: that over their jobs—and writing a new chapter in American labor gig workers are not listened to, that they have little or no voice or leverage on the job. history. BY STEVEN GREENHOUSE JUNE 28, 2016 Considering the nature of the platform-based economy, it shouldn't be a surprise that so many workers feel they have so little voice. The companies are often remote, and many workers rarely, if ever, communicate with managers. Instead, they typically deal with apps and algorithms, which don't exactly encourage This article appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of The American Prospect magazine. Subscribe here. dialogue-or ask about workers' concerns. App- based workers are often isolated from each other and dispersed. Mechanical Turk workers toil at Travis Kalanick, Uber's founder, recently recalled that when he first started the company seven years ago, "it was easy to communicate with the handful home, transcribing audio, typing in details of receipts, or inspecting YouTube videos for of drivers using the app." Uber's marketing 1 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 2 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect profanity. TaskRabbit workers do plumbing or carpentry at this house or that one, and Uber and are considered independent contractors. Workers for Mechanical Turk-which giant online retailer around. numerous online forums to share advice with each other and warn about requesters who cheat them Lyft drivers are in their cars, ferrying passengers Amazon developed and owns-have created Despite the atomization of this workforce, there are stirrings from below among the app-based, by refusing to pay them for their work. Helped by several researchers at Stanford, Mechanical Turk workers have also set up a thriving forum, called crowdsourced, microtasking masses. As has so often happened across history when workers feel underpaid and unheeded, the toilers of the on- Dynamo, a virtual union hall where workers brainstorm strategies to press for better pay and conditions. demand economy are stepping up and taking steps-some tentative, some innovative, and a few ingenious-to be heard and heeded. To these "There is enormous creativity and dynamism going workers, myriad problems cry out for fixing: pay that is often below minimum wage; managers who on-a multiplicity of approaches," says Wilma Liebman, former chair of the National Labor systematically ignore their concerns; being Relations Board. "To me, it's just inspiring-there's misclassified as independent contractors, and being fired, blocked, or deactivated by platforms all this energy, all this thinking, all this commitment. There's all this experimentation at with little notice or justification. the local level." Many gig workers are seeking "None of these groups yet have the power unions to lift their voices by banding together. At Upwork, a platform that connects freelancers with projects, workers have showered the once had in collective bargaining," Liebman adds. "But they're working on it." “ MAYSUN/PICTURE-ALLI ANCE/DPA/AP IMAGES company with complaints In many ways, digital ondemand workers face far more obstacles to that its stated minimum pay of $3 an hour is inexcusably low. (Like most platform-based organizing and being heard companies, Upwork insists that its workers are than workers in the independent contractors, a group not covered by minimum-wage and overtime laws.) To Uber's traditional economy. dismay, its drivers in Seattle have formed an association that they hope-thanks to an innovative Isolated as so many of them are, on-demand workers rarely meet face to face, and online Seattle law-will evolve into a formal union that does collective bargaining, even when the workers 3 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 4 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect forums are a second-best substitute for building trust and solidarity. Sometimes when these (which picks up, packages, and sends things), and Hello Alfred (a butler-like service that helps with them-and even kick potential troublemakers off their platforms. Moreover, since on-demand their workers as W-2 employees. workers communicate online, companies spy on shopping, cleaning, and laundry) treat most of Seth Harris, a former deputy secretary of labor, notes that some on-demand workers already have workers are frequently considered independent contractors, they aren't protected by federal labor laws that prohibit companies from retaliating plenty of voice and bargaining power. For instance, the chefs on the platform Homemade-far different from Uber drivers or Mechanical Turk workers- against employees who join together to improve conditions. have the power to determine the prices of their Notwithstanding such obstacles, "workers are finding ways to move their voices," says Leonard meals and what dishes to offer. Larry Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a Smith, a Teamster organizer in Seattle, where the Uber drivers have arguably done more to organize liberal think tank, estimates that there are 600,000 than any other platform-based workers in the country. "Whether this leads to more union organizing in the traditional or nontraditional workers in the nation's digital AMANDA TEUSCHER on-demand economy, but some gig economy experts, like Sara Horowitz, founder of the economy, I don't think we know yet. It really depends on the ability of the labor movement to adapt to the workers of today, rather than have 300,000-member Freelancers Union, say there are millions of such workers. Defining who exactly is an on-demand worker can be difficult. Nearly workers adapt to the labor movement." Inasmuch as digital on-demand companies come eight million caregivers have registered on in different shapes and sizes and use workers in different ways, workers in those companies may Care.com, but should they be considered workers in the digital on-demand economy? Mechanical need to embrace different strategies. TaskRabbit Turk boasts that it has more than 500,000 workers and Care.com, which provides home-care aides, nannies, and housekeepers, are online exchanges worldwide to draw from to do a range of tasks, but an International Labour Organization study that match workers with customers. Uber and Lyft estimated that it has a stable workforce of just serve as exchanges, too, but also play a powerful role in managing, hiring, and firing drivers. 20,000. Whatever the number, the on-demand economy is growing so fast and has stirred such vast interest Mechanical Turk and Crowdflower are digital marketplaces that sell crowdsourced labor online. from investors, the public, and the news media And a few on-demand companies, like Instacart that how this innovative sector treats-and (whose workers buy and deliver groceries), Shyp 5 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 6 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect mistreats-its workers has become a major issue. Indeed, how gig workers respond to these use it." To deal with this wage theft, many Turkers contribute to Turkopticon, a browser plug-in that challenges and how they exert collective power are shaping up as an important new chapter in the nation's labor history. rates Mechanical Turk requesters. Companies that BACK IN 2007, ROCHELLE LaPlante was a full- repeatedly reject Turkers' work for no good reason without paying get a red light, while those who pay suggestion, she began supplementing her income by working part-time for Mechanical Turk doing Turkers' work get a green light. Two researchers, Lilly Irani and Six Silberman, set up Turkopticon time social worker in Seattle, and at a friend's well, give clear instructions, and readily accept HITs ("human intelligence tasks"). LaPlante has in 2008 to give these "invisible" workers a tool since moved to Los Angeles and now often spends 30 hours a week "turking"-she transcribes audio, against requesters who cheat. "Our first goal was to give workers an ability to help each other: mutual aid," says Irani, a scans bar codes to tell companies what products match them, and watches YouTube videos to see professor of communications at the University of California, San Diego. "But that isn't the same as whether they're appropriate for children. Many HITs pay just 3, 5, or 10 cents each, and sometimes LaPlante can do 100, even 200 of them, in an hour. voice. It doesn't mean Amazon will listen to them. But it means requesters could be pushed to listen." "There are days the pay is amazing, and some days Many Turkers voice frustration that Amazon, which owns Mechanical Turk, refuses to intervene it's awful," she says. A study by Janine Berg, a senior economist at the International Labour Organization (ILO), found that median pay for when a requester rejects their work and refuses to pay without justification. The Amazon "participation agreement" that Turkers must sign Turkers in the United States is $4.65 an hour, although LaPlante says her average is "ten-ish." to work says Amazon is "not involved in the Among Turkers, one of the most common complaints is requesters who refuse to pay. transactions between Requesters and Providers" and is "not responsible for the actions of any Sometimes requesters legitimately conclude that Requester or Provider." Moreover, the agreement Turkers' work on a HIT was not up to snuff. Sometimes they simply cheat workers. states, "As a Provider you are performing Services for a Requester in your personal capacity as an independent contractor and not as an employee of "That happens all the time. That happens daily," the Requester." LaPlante said. "There are definitely cases where it's done on purpose. They reject because they don't Irani has seen an evolution of Turkers' views. want to pay, and they take the completed work and 7 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ "When we first began Turkopticon, the reaction 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 8 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect workers had was, 'We don't want to be in a labor union. Is this going to turn into a union thing?'" "I try to do between $12 and $15 an hour. Sometimes I far exceed that and sometimes I'm was not founded with formal unionization in mind.) "But over the years, it seems workers have old and 5-year-old. "My husband has a job. Without that, there is no way we could live in L.A. Irani says. (Turkopticon is not a labor union and well below," says LaPlante, the mother of a 7-year- become more open to how unions can help them. on what I make turking." They see how recalcitrant Amazon has been on making changes." The ILO study found that Turkers' median pay in Miriam Cherry, a labor law professor at St. Louis India is $1.65 an hour, compared with $4.65 in the U.S., where the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an crowdsourcing, says it was unfair that platforms like Mechanical Turk (which are eager to attract as their average age is 35, while 38 percent of American Turkers said Mechanical Turk was their University who has written extensively on hour. According to the ILO's survey of 814 Turkers, many requesters as they can to maximize their commissions) turn a blind eye to workers' main source of income. Turkers and Crowdflower workers (also included in the survey) said they concerns by refusing to do anything about average 28.4 hours of work per week-21.8 hours of complaints that requesters are cheating them. "The platforms unanimously let people reject your work paid work and 6.6 hours of unpaid work, searching for HITs and doing preparatory work. and not pay you," Cherry says. “ Eleven percent of U.S. Turkers have postgraduate degrees, 34 percent have a bachelor's, and 37 "In the real world, if percent have some college, with a significant percentage of them pursuing a bachelor's degree. someone is doing a bad job, The survey found that only 10 percent of American you can fire them, but you Turkers earn more than $10 an hour-around what LaPlante says she averages. still have to pay for the previous week's work." "Most Turkers are very educated and they choose to do this," LaPlante says. "They have three LaPlante and other Turkers use not only Turkopticon, but also online forums like Mturk children at home or are caring for a parent at home or they have a disability, and it's hard to get Crowd and Turkernation to recommend lucrative new HITs, to warn against bad requesters, and to out of the house. It's not just people who sit solitary in their basement. I know someone who is an attorney who does it in the evening." share tips on how to "turk" more efficiently. Some forum members text their forum buddies as soon as especially good HITs are posted. 9 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ LaPlante, who has a degree in 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 10 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect human services from Western Washington University, helps run two forums for fellow Turkers, which lifts her mood and her https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect grown worried that even industrial giants Daimler and Bosch have turned to crowdsourcing for help ANTHONY BEHAR/SIPA on several elaborate design projects. In April, IG VIA AP IMAGES Metall brought together organizers and academics from around the world for a conference in earnings. "The forums provide a lot of socialization Frankfurt to discuss whether crowdsourcing might for people," she says. "Without the forums, people would be completely lost, they wouldn't know undercut high-road employers and unionized workers and what, if anything, should be done what to do, where to start. It's just totally jumping about it. into the deep end of the pool. Forums help workers, especially those who are new and don't In the ILO's study, one Turker told of a requester who had blocked her "after I sent him an email suggesting politely that he could pay a tiny bit know what to do." When a new requester begins posting numerous HITs, LaPlante and other forum members often more for the work he was asking people to do." (Requesters can block Turkers they're unhappy send messages to that requester, recommending with from working on their HITs.) The Turker said how to make instructions clearer or perhaps protesting that the proposed pay is too low. When a the requester "was very condescending and rude" and wrote that blocking her was aimed at putting new requester rejects their recommendations, they her overall Mechanical Turk account in jeopardy. sometimes push to get hundreds of Turkers to shun that requester's HITs. All this sometimes "This is unreal," the blocked Turker said. "I reported it to Amazon, but they have done nothing." results in getting better instructions and sometimes even higher pay. “ These forums provide some worker voice, but their power is limited, partly because it's hard to herd Turkers, who are invisible to each other and With more than 500 Turker members, the Dynamo forum, with its concept of a dispersed around the nation-and world. Janice Bellace, a professor at the Wharton School of virtual union hall, is Business, calls Mechanical Turk's microtasking seeking to exert far more "post-industrial homework"-similar to the underpaid piecework that garment workers did at collective pressure on home a century ago on New York's Lower East Side. Amazon than other Crowdsourcing can involve highly skilled work. forums. Germany's biggest labor union, IG Metall, has 11 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 12 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect Dynamo's website proclaims, "Turkers are human beings, not algorithms," and displays a letter to done almost automatically and super-cheap, and they realize, 'Oh my God, these are human beings. not only actual human beings, but people who deserve respect, fair treatment and open realization, Milland says, some requesters have agreed to pay more for their HITs, but there's a long Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, saying, "Turkers are I'm paying them like slave labor.'" Thanks to this communication." way to go. Much like union members, Dynamo's members WHILE TURKERS HAVE TAKEN to their computer researchers who use Mechanical Turk to adopt a make their voices heard. Indeed, within the digital debate and decide on what issues and campaigns to pursue. One campaign has pressed academic keyboards to win better conditions, Uber drivers have taken to the streets-and done much else to code of ethics; academics often turn to the platform to find people to complete surveys and on-demand economy, Uber drivers have led the way in uniting and fighting. In New York, tests. And when many Turkers in India were complaining that Amazon paid them by check- hundreds of Uber drivers went on a one-day strike in February to protest fare cuts, while drivers in which often took several weeks to arrive, that is, if Tampa clocked out for one or two peak hours a the check didn't get lost in the mail-a Dynamo campaign persuaded Amazon to start paying week in protest. Drivers have filed ambitious class actions asserting that Uber has unlawfully Turkers in India through direct deposit. On the classified them as independent contractors to save Dynamo website in early June, nearly 50 Turkers were calling for a campaign to pressure Amazon to money. And drivers, helped by the Teamsters and other unions, persuaded the Seattle City Council to reduce its commissions-which generally run from pass a landmark unionization law for app-based 20 percent to 40 percent-of what requesters pay. drivers. “ "Dynamo allows us a place to work together and beat around ideas of what to do," says Kristy Milland, a longtime Turker in Toronto. "Do we submit crappy data to a company that's abusive to Turkers to teach it a lesson? Or do we assemble There is so much energy and activity in organizing Uber drivers that at times things have degenerated into a turf war people at Amazon headquarters in Seattle to protest?" Milland agrees with Rochelle LaPlante that when online forums communicate directly with-and , most notably in New York City, where three powerful unions have clashed in their efforts to represent the city's 35,000 Uber drivers. pressure-requesters, that can pay off, at least a little. "Requesters," Milland says, "can get work 13 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 14 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect E-ALLIANCE/DPA/AP IM Harry Campbell, an Uber driver who has a popular blog, The RideShare Guy, says drivers are pushing better. In a class-action lawsuit, drivers in California "partners"-has long ignored their pleas. Many drivers are at first exhilarated with being able to employees, thereby compelling Uber to make Social Security contributions on their behalf and to be heard because Uber-which calls its drivers AGES sought to be declared set their own hours, Campbell says, adding that pay for such "employee" expenses as insurance, they initially buy into Uber's rhetoric that they're their own boss. But then the drivers start seeing gasoline, and car maintenance (as California law requires for employees). In New York, the the downsides-having to pay for insurance, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers gasoline, and automobile maintenance; not getting any retirement or health plan through their job; got several hundred Uber drivers at LaGuardia Airport to sign pro-union cards last February and having to drive 50 or more hours a week to support their families. Their problems were compounded then asked the National Labor Relations Board to hold a unionization vote so it could represent some when Uber ordered wave upon wave of fare cuts 600 drivers. But the Machinists' union, which has across the U.S. long sought to unionize New York's limousine drivers, protested that it should have jurisdiction "That's where you lose that feeling of being your own boss. If you were your own boss, you probably over the Uber drivers. And the Taxi Workers Alliance, a powerful taxi drivers union with 19,000 members, including 5,000 Uber drivers, also wouldn't give yourself a 30 percent pay cut," says Campbell, a former aerospace engineer. "Not only are they cutting rates, but they're telling drivers, claimed jurisdiction. 'This is going to be good for you [by bringing you With all this commotion, there has been a wave of cuts.'" and conditions. more passengers].' I haven't spoken to a single driver who says, 'I'm making more after the rate important developments in recent weeks in connection with Uber drivers' battle for better pay "This is where the drivers' voice gets drowned out," • On March 4, the United States Chamber of ignores you." city's Uber and Lyft drivers the right to unionize Campbell continues. "Obviously drivers complain about rate cuts. Uber doesn't listen. It basically Commerce filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Seattle in an effort to overturn the law giving the even though they are independent contractors. Many labor advocates have praised the Seattle law, Anger about the fare cuts and the low pay has fueled a multiplicity of efforts to find ways to get Uber to pay drivers more and treat them 15 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ enacted last December, as a pioneering approach to unionizing app-based drivers. The Chamber's lawsuit asserts that if independent-contractor JEENAH MOON/PICTUR drivers band together to bargain on fares and other 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 16 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect matters, that would violate antitrust laws as a conspiracy in restraint of trade. The law's backers financial assistance from the company. “ argue that the drivers' union would enjoy a state immunity exemption to antitrust laws because the city council took official government action to In announcing the settlement, Uber's Kalanick acknowledged, "We haven't make the Uber drivers' union possible. (The National Labor Relations Act excludes independent contractors from the federal right to always done a good job working with drivers." bargain collectively, just as it excludes public employees and farmworkers. Seeing that many states and cities have given public employees More than 150 California drivers have asked the such rights for independent contractors, too.) the attorney representing the plaintiff drivers collective-bargaining rights, the Seattle City Council concluded that it had the power to create judge to vacate the settlement, however, arguing that it awards too little money to drivers and that shouldn't have surrendered on the independentcontractor-versus-employee question. • On April 21, Uber announced a far-reaching settlement of class-action lawsuits brought in California and Massachusetts over whether drivers • On May 10, after labor leaders had persuaded the in those states were independent contractors. electrical workers to delay their unionization push Under the settlement, drivers in those two states would continue to be considered independent in New York, Uber and Local 15 of the International Association of Machinists contractors and Uber would pay them up to $100 announced a five-year deal in which that union million. In the settlement, Uber agreed for the first time to publish a deactivation policy and give would set up an Uber-blessed "Independent Drivers Guild" to, in the Machinists' words, "give drivers a warning and reasons when they face the 35,000 [New York] drivers using the app a deactivation. The settlement also set up an appeals process for drivers who feel they were wrongly strong voice as well as new protections and benefits." As part of that agreement, drivers would terminated. continue to be treated as independent contractors, and the drivers guild would meet monthly with Uber. Under the agreement, the guild-which According to the April announcement, Uber also agreed to "facilitate and recognize the formation of a Driver Association, which will have leaders doesn't purport to be an official union-would not be allowed to bargain over fares, commissions, or elected by fellow Uber drivers, who will be able to bring drivers' concerns to Uber management." The benefits as part of any effort to get an official contract (although the Machinists say those issues can be discussed). settlement calls for quarterly meetings with Uber officials, with the associations receiving some 17 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 18 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect Deactivated drivers in New York would also get an appeals process, and the Machinists said drivers (Getting a majority of the city's 35,000 Uber drivers to vote for a union might not be easy, considering legal services, and education courses. The Machinists also agreed not to seek to unionize the campaign.) would gain access to life insurance, discounted that Uber would likely mount a fierce anti-union "I don't see why the Machinists should capitulate on employee status or collective bargaining," Desai drivers during the agreement's five years, unless the NLRB rules during that time that Uber drivers are employees and thus have a right to unionize. says. "This is a betrayal of historic proportions for drivers, especially because this company is the most well-financed and politically aggressive, and • On June 2, the Taxi Workers Alliance filed a federal class-action lawsuit asserting that Uber has is rewriting labor law. Why would you concede to misclassified its drivers as independent contractors, violated minimum-wage and them?" James Conigliaro Jr., a lawyer for the Machinists, defends his union's agreement with Uber. "We overtime laws, and unlawfully taken surcharges from drivers' fares. The lawsuit says, "Uber, believe this is the best model right now because it achieves immediate results," he says. "The drivers through its practices and broken promises, severely harmed the thousands of drivers they recruited, and contributed greatly to a 'race to the get immediate support and a body that will advocate for them. They will have a seat at the table with Uber managers. They will have a voice at bottom.'" Uber, which vigorously insists its drivers are independent contractors, called the lawsuit "a thinly veiled stunt." the workplace." Conigliaro argues that this halfway solution-a Bhairavi Desai, the alliance's executive director, non-union guild-made sense because the Machinists had encountered huge difficulties says her group had filed the lawsuit partly out of frustration that the Machinists had agreed that Uber drivers could continue to be considered unionizing black-car limousine drivers over the past two decades because of employer opposition, even though the union had won NLRB decisions independent contractors. “ declaring those drivers employees. And the Desai says the Taxi Workers Machinists would likely encounter far more formidable opposition if it sought to unionize Uber Alliance hopes someday to drivers. win a union representation Defending the Machinists' decision to create a guild, Congliaro adds, "We saw this as a great election for Uber drivers in New York. 19 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ opportunity to help workers and also get labor's 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 20 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect foot in the door in the gig economy." make decisions. Sachs adds that companies saying, "'We listen to what our employees say' has a kind of Liebman, the former NLRB chair, gave the deal tentative praise. "It's a first step," she says. "It's a 'welfare capitalism' feel to it-which history shows we should be skeptical of." (Under the "welfare capitalism" of the 1920s, company-controlled foot in the door. It gives them some access to benefits. … They said they would have a regular forum for dialogue with Uber and a right to unions provided some benefits to their employeesuntil the companies abandoned those unions after the 1929 market crash.) represent drivers in deactivations. Those are not insignificant matters." The Uber-employee model he likes most, Sachs But Benjamin Sachs, a labor law professor at Harvard, is more skeptical about both the drivers says, is the Seattle ordinance because it "provides a road to genuine collective organization and collective voice." guild in New York and the drivers associations in California and Massachusetts. "The biggest question mark is, is this a way of avoiding and "But I hedge about being subverting meaningful worker voice, or is it an onramp to meaningful worker voice?" he says. optimistic," he continues. "It's hard to unionize a dispersed workforce, even when you Sachs expresses concern that these driver groups have the legal architecture to do that. It shows how far back could in effect become company unions. On one hand, he notes "they can lead to something more; that is, if you give workers a taste of what it's like to AP PHOTO/RICHARD D REW we've moved-now, when a group of workers is declared to have unionization rights, we celebrate that, as if it's not insanely be in community with one another," they might then push for a true union. But on the other hand, he says if this effort "feels like it's going to be a dead difficult to unionize workers." NOTWITHSTANDING SUCH pessimism and the end, then it will be a dead end." myriad obstacles, on-demand workers have racked up some undeniable-and largely unadvertised- If management clearly dominates and manipulates these groups, he continues, the NLRB might find them to be illegal company unions-but gains, thanks to their speaking up and pressuring companies. After some "taskers" complained that they were earning less than the minimum wage, to do that, the labor board would first have to determine that the drivers are employees. Sachs says that these groups probably wouldn't be Leah Busque, TaskRabbit's then-CEO announced in July 2014 that her company would ensure a minimum-wage floor of $11.20 for its 30,000 considered company unions if they do next to nothing and serve as a mere suggestion box, or if workers. Since then, TaskRabbit has required that they become independent of Uber and actually 21 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ every task posted on its site pay for at least one 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 22 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect hour's work and that pay average out to at least $11.20 per hour. aides, or livery drivers. But while there is immense enthusiasm for this idea, such on-demand cooperatives are in the embryonic stage in the U.S. The National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), For instance, Juno, a brand-new company seeking to compete with Uber, says it will treat its drivers an advocacy and organizing group for home-care aides, housekeepers, and nannies, has created a Good Work Code that a dozen platform-based as employees, not independent contractors, and holds itself out as a semi-cooperative-it's reserving 50 percent of its equity for drivers. companies, including CareLinx.com, DoorDash, and Managed by Q , have adopted. Among other things, the code calls for safe, stable, and flexible Trebor Scholz, a professor of culture and media at working conditions. Palak Shah, the alliance the New School, is the foremost champion of official overseeing that effort, is also urging companies to embrace its "Fair Care Pledge." platform cooperatives and points to Stocksy, a photographer-owned online cooperative that sells NDWA has partnered with Care.com, a giant online marketplace with 11 million users, to post the stock photographs. Richard Freeman, a labor economist at Harvard, applauds the idea of pledge on the company's website. As a result, cooperatives, but warns that fledgling, startup 130,000 families have promised to follow the Fair Care Pledge with the caregivers and housekeepers cooperatives, whether Juno or a home-care aides' cooperative, might have a hard time growing they hire. This pledge includes treating workers because they'd be dwarfed by established giants with respect, signing a work agreement, paying at least $15 an hour, and providing paid sick days, like Uber and Care.com. Moreover, Freeman notes, employee-owned companies and cooperatives in paid holidays, and paid vacation. the U.S. have often stumbled and been riven by divisions as they've grown larger. "I was worried that there were a lot of people out “ there in the gig economy speaking for workers who were not from worker organizations," Shah says. "They said they had to figure out how they're going to have a quality labor force, and we wanted to offer a road map of how they should start thinking The most contentious labor issue in the on-demand economy is of course whether workers are independent contractors or about this." Many worker advocates are talking up what they employees see as the ideal way to assure ample worker voice and leverage in the on-demand economy-set up platform cooperatives owned by the workers , and many workers have pushed hard and brought themselves, be they microtaskers, home-care 23 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ lawsuits on this issue. Instacart, a grocery-delivery 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 24 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect company, agreed to make its shoppers employees only after being sued, but it also realized that if it heard. "We do a ton of work with our Alfreds on how to make the tool better, how to make their jobs wanted a stable of loyal, dependable, well-trained shoppers, it was far better to have W-2 employees. better," she says. "Every week, Alfreds fill in a But some on-demand startups have taken the high road on this from the start. Three years ago, when survey. Was there job satisfaction? What can we do better?" two Harvard Business School graduates founded Sapone, Hello Alfred's CEO, adds, "We don't have a Hello Alfred, a company that provides personal services-buying groceries, picking up dry cleaning, suggestion box because we're talking to our people all the time, every single day." hiring a plumber-they wanted to make sure they provided customers with tip-top service. To accomplish that, the two founders, Marcela Sapone Chris Mooney, a 31-year-old Navy veteran who began working for Hello Alfred in November, says W-2 employees (not contractors), paying them well discuss problems, to disseminate information, to try to find ways to boost morale." and Jessica Beck, realized that they had to treat their workers well. That meant treating them as the Alfreds meet twice a week with managers "to (starting pay is $18 an hour), and last but not least, listening to what their workers have to say. Some "I never felt that I wasn't listened to, that I didn't have a voice," he adds. entrepreneurs criticized Sapone and Beck for not going the independent-contractor route-hiring workers as employees costs 20 percent to 30 Similarly, Managed by Q , a startup that cleans and provides maintenance services to office buildings, employer costs, including paying for Social Security, Medicare, workers' compensation, and needs loyal, well-trained workers to provide excellent service. Managed by Q pays a minimum percent more because it entails many extra also treats its workers as employees-it, too, says it unemployment insurance. But "when we of $12.50 an hour, well above the minimum wage, explained it," Beck says, "a lot of people [business school friends, fellow entrepreneurs, potential offers full health-care benefits and a 401(k) plan, and even gave 5 percent of the company's equity to investors] saw exactly what we were doing and its workers. CEO Dan Teran said Managed by Q they got right behind the vision." listens closely to its workers, noting that it doesn't make decisions on employees' benefits until it Hello Alfred's founders realized that they needed loyal, long-term workers its customers would get discusses them with its employees. to know and trust. "Our retention is extremely high," says Beck, now chief operating officer, Not surprisingly, workers at high-road companies like Hello Alfred and Managed by Q aren't clamoring for a union or for more voice. Harvard's noting that the company works hard to make employees, known as Alfreds, feel valued and 25 of 30 https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 26 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights - The American Prospect https://prospect.org/labor/demand-demanding-rights/ Professor Sachs praises such companies, where workers are respected and listened to, but he says that's not enough. "Workers need an independent collective voice, even when the employer is a highroad employer," he said. Sign up for TAP newsletters Brishen Rogers, a labor and employment law professor at Temple University, says that when ondemand workers have a voice, or a union, "it gives workers more power in the workplace and society, All we need is your email address... but it can also help companies understand what it Email is their workers want and hear workers' ideas on how company operations and employee morale email@email.com can be improved." Most digital on-demand companies are not even a decade old, and the many efforts by on-demand Sign Me Up! workers to organize are even more recent. Some experts say these efforts are still in an embryonic stage. Embryonic or not, for American labor, an TRENDING NOW important question is how successful these workers will be in gaining a bigger voice-and stake-in the fast-growing new economy. ISSUE: POLITICAL AWAKENINGS Corbyn, Sanders, and Warren: the Bogus Comparison ISSUE: SUMMER 2016 SPECIAL REPORT: THE NEW LABOR ECONOMY BY ROBERT KUTTNER STEVEN GREENHOUSE Et Tu, U.K.? Steven Greenhouse was a New York Times reporter BY HAROLD MEYERSON for 31 years, including 19 as its labor and workplace reporter. He is the author of the new book ‘Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of ‘Take Back Our Party’ Chapter 2: Bad Policy American Labor.’ 27 of 30 BY JAMES KWAK 12/31/19, 7:54 PM 28 of 30 12/31/19, 7:54 PM Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Wo... https://prospect.org/labor/where-are-the-workers-when-we-talk... Donate Subscribe Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Wo... https://prospect.org/labor/where-are-the-workers-when-we-talk... ! Menu DAY ONE AGENDA LAW AND JUSTICE MONEY, POLITICS AND POWER HEALTH AND SOCIAL POLICY HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION ECONOMIC POLICY ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT WORKING IN AMERICA THE PROSPECT ARCHIVE CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA AMERICA AND THE WORLD POLITICS GREEN NEW DEAL ZHEJIANG DAILY/IMAGINECHINA VIA AP IMAGES TAKE BACK OUR PARTY A guest takes food delivered by a robot in the restaurant of Alibaba’s futuristic Flyzoo Hotel, in Home / Working in America / Hangzhou, China. Innovative applications of AI in hotel and restaurant settings may threaten jobs in Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Work? these sectors. There’s something hugely awry with many of the discussions about the wave of new technologies confronting us and what they mean for the future of work: Specifically, the people who will be most affected and hurt by the wave of new technologies —America’s workers—are usually left out of the discussions. It’s unfortunate and illogical that the CEOs and Silicon Valley investors driving these conversations rarely include workers—after all, by some estimates the number of people who will CEOs, Silicon Valley investors, and techno-academics talk to themselves about new technologies, but workers must have a say in these debates as well. lose their jobs because of robots and artificial intelligence is staggering. The McKinsey Global Institute forecasts that automation will, by 2030, destroy more than 39 million jobs in the United States, while two Oxford professors estimate that BY STEVEN GREENHOUSE OCTOBER 22, 2019 47 percent of U.S. jobs are at risk of being automated by 2033. Nonetheless, and rather strangely, at the dozens of conferences held across the country about “the 1 of 10 12/31/19, 7:52 PM 2 of 10 12/31/19, 7:52 PM Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Wo... https://prospect.org/labor/where-are-the-workers-when-we-talk... Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Wo... future of work,” there rarely is a seat at the table for workers or worker representatives. By contrast, Going forward, any discussions or conferences on the future of work should include at least some millionaire executives, as well as consultants and technology gurus. As a dismayed Darren Walker, officials or worker-friendly academics. I’ve even heard talk of having workers picket any new there are plenty of seats for billionaire investors, workers or their representatives, perhaps union president of the Ford Foundation, has written: “future of work” conference that doesn’t include “Too often, discussions about the future of work center on technology rather than on the people some workers among the panelists. If workers (or their representatives) have a voice in the design and development of the technologies of who will be affected by it.” It often seems that the corporate executives tomorrow, that might help corporations and rushing to introduce artificial intelligence, robots, and other new technologies plan to give workers as engineers design these technologies in a more worker-friendly way, perhaps minimizing worker much say in these matters as zoo managers give to the animals about revamping a zoo. stress or boredom. Giving workers a say might help maximize the ability of employees to work with or alongside robots and other new technologies, There’s an unfortunate explanation for why instead of being replaced by them. There is huge focus nowadays on developing driverless cars and workers have often been left out of these discussions. As I explain in my book Beaten Down, Worked Up, worker power and voice in the U.S., trucks, but there is far less focus on how these technologies will affect the millions of people who make their livelihood as drivers—whether of whether in the workplace or in politics, has declined to its weakest point in eight decades. Whether it involves raising the federal minimum trucks, taxis, or Ubers or Lyfts. Workers should also have a say in all these discussions to help ensure that the jobs of the future are good jobs, with solid wage (which hasn’t been increased in a decade), replacing a dozen workers with robots, or moving a factory overseas, workers’ concerns are too often pay and benefits and a humane, non-frenetic pace of work. overlooked. It would be great if the federal government helped ensure that workers have a voice in these Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the executives and engineers behind these new technologies pay little heed to the workers who conversations on technology’s effects on workers, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the issue “isn’t even on our radar screen.” Labor would be affected. Just 1.5 percent of U.S. workers in professional and technical services are unionized, and just 3.7 percent in computer and unions are also somewhat at fault for workers having so little say in these discussions. Unions mathematical operations are—far lower than the have not hired or trained nearly enough people nation’s overall 10.5 percent unionization rate. 3 of 10 https://prospect.org/labor/where-are-the-workers-when-we-talk... who can speak knowledgeably on these issues. 12/31/19, 7:52 PM 4 of 10 12/31/19, 7:52 PM Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Wo... https://prospect.org/labor/where-are-the-workers-when-we-talk... Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Wo... https://prospect.org/labor/where-are-the-workers-when-we-talk... The Silicon Valley executives and investors who dominate “future of work” discussions often workforce. Work is often critical to people’s maintaining their self-worth, something to which lifeline for the millions of workers who might lose their jobs because of new technologies. Many The hotel and restaurant workers’ union, UNITE promote universal basic income to serve as a UBI advocates often pay too little attention. HERE, has arguably had the most success in negotiating about technological advances, such as champions of UBI see this idea as a way to minimize worker opposition to the anticipated flood of new technologies. The universal basic robots that handle room-service deliveries or touchscreens that replace waiters in restaurants. The powerful hotel workers’ union local in Las income figure I most often hear from Andrew Yang and others is $1,000 a month for every American over age 18. Good luck living on $12,000 a year. Vegas (Culinary Workers Union Local 226) and the Some UBI supporters assert that if UBI is hotel casinos there agreed to create a committee that will study how employees can be trained to even say Social Security and Medicare should be calls for giving the union 180 days’ warning before instituted, safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps will no longer be needed, and some harness—and work alongside—new technologies, instead of being replaced by them. Their contract phased out, too. I imagine that millions of workers will have very strong opinions about these hotels deploy new technologies and for hotels to try to find new jobs for any displaced workers. In proposals to eviscerate the social safety net. That’s my book, I quote UNITE HERE’s president, D. all the more reason it’s wrong to exclude workers from these discussions. While tech execs Taylor: “You are not going to stop technology. The question is whether workers will be partners in its vigorously discuss UBI among themselves, a recent deployment or bystanders that get run over by it.” Hill-HarrisX poll found that Americans oppose UBI by 57 percent to 43 percent, with older workers On this front, what’s happened in Las Vegas shouldn’t stay in Las Vegas. Workers should have a seat at the table, and that would make it far less most strongly opposed. Many workers would much prefer to have a job likely that millions of workers will get steamrolled than sit at home and receive UBI. It confounds me that “future of work” discussions rarely touch on as corporations rush to introduce a brave new world of tomorrow’s technologies. something workers would badly want—instead of POVERTY & WEALTH seeing some companies lay off, say, one-third or more of their employees due to new technologies, UNIONS BIG TECH STEVEN GREENHOUSE workers would no doubt want corporations to embrace large-scale work-sharing, perhaps having Steven Greenhouse was a New York Times reporter all employees work a 25-hour or 30-hour for 31 years, including 19 as its labor and workplace workweek, instead of laying off a huge swath of the 5 of 10 12/31/19, 7:52 PM 6 of 10 12/31/19, 7:52 PM Far From Seamless: a Workers’ Inquiry at Deliveroo viewpointmag.com/2017/09/20/far-seamless-workers-inquiry-deliveroo/ Facility Waters September 20, 2017 From Hito Steyerl’s ‘How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational.MOV File’ There has been a rapid growth of companies offering food delivery services through online platforms, including: Deliveroo, UberEATS, Amazon Restaurants, Foodora, foodpanda/hellofood, and Seamless, to name a few. The basic premise is to replace existing arrangements for takeaway delivery food, centralizing the process on an online platform. There are similarities with Uber’s business model, seeking to (as the current popular term states) “disrupt” an existing business model. The emergence of these companies connects eager venture capital with startup founders, often trying to hide the labor of the workers on which the platforms rely. Yet, the branded uniforms of these companies—either on bicycles or mopeds—have becoming an increasingly common sight in major cities. In the UK there has been another wave of disruption, but not one that had been planned for in these new business models. In July 2016, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) raided multiple Byron Burger restaurants in central London, as well as the Deliveroo recruitment office, carrying out a mass arrest of undocumented workers. This was a collaborative trap fabricated by the state and businesses. Deliveroo’s workforce is largely populated by immigrants, and Byron Burgers is one of Deliveroo’s key partners. Once the news spread, many riders began boycotting Byron orders, refusing to deliver their food to customers. The message was spread through WhatsApp, social media, and moved, through the drivers, into 1/21 different parts of the city. These combined to create a climate in which there was greater cohesion and solidarity. The connections between the multiplicity of socio-spatial layers were thickening. Two weeks after the raids, emails and texts were sent to every Deliveroo rider stating that pay was being changed to £3.75 per delivery. Previously, cyclists earned £7 per hour, plus £1 per delivery, while moped drivers earned £10 per hour, plus £1 per delivery. This new per delivery rate was understood by many as a dramatic pay drop, or at least perpetual precarity and the possibility of days without pay. The next day Deliveroo workers organized a wildcat strike that lasted for six days. News of the strike spread first on social media, with workers gathering in their zone center 1 to meet and organize. Across the city, workers met, and remaining logged out of their applications, headed up to Deliveroo’s head offices in central London. There were hundreds of workers there, revving moped engines, beeping horns, dancing in the streets, and doing wheelies, all while shouting “No drivers! No Deliveroo!” up at the office windows. It was playful and fun, something that could be shared between those who do not necessarily speak the same language – after all, everyone can share the enjoyment of having a go at the boss. There was rage, particularly a confrontation between a manager and a dozen drivers still wearing motorcycle helmets with the visors down. But also, there was laughter. People were arriving in convoys, as they had gone from zone center to zone center, spreading the news and recruiting anyone they came across in uniform. The management had no idea what they had let themselves in for. The Silicon Valley mentality seemed to pull a blank when it came to unofficial unions and grassroots solidarity. Their dots on maps all vanished, only to appear again as a physical presence, outside their offices en masse. On the second day, when negotiations were clearly not going well, a group of 20 almost stormed the office to occupy it, before being held back by other more patient strikers and a IWGB 2 union representative. By the sixth day, Deliveroo had to walk back the policy change, claiming now that the move to the piece rate was optional and would only be trialed in one zone. In the wake of the victory of the wildcat strike, the next challenge was finding a way to translate that resistance into something with longevity, something that could be channelled into new organizational forms that could continue to mobilize. The IWGB, a small base union, recruited rapidly at the strikes. At points, both of us stood waving membership forms, with a queue of workers waiting to join. This is not the kind of experience either of us have found with the larger trade unions in London. From the strikes last year, the campaign in London has continued, along with other moments across the UK (for example in Bristol, Leeds and Brighton). 3 This has involved not only the IWGB, but also branches of the IWW, but no mainstream trade union has been involved. In London the campaign is currently tied up in legal and employment tribunals. The IWGB is making a claim to be recognized as the union in one particular zone and, if successful, this will mean the employment status will 2/21 change from self-employed independent contractor to worker status. A success would mean much greater employment rights, including minimum wage, holiday and sick pay, and so on. This moment has less space for worker agency to shape the decisions. At first it involved a sustained organizing campaign in the zone, but it is now being deliberated at tribunal. The union provides an important space to meet with other workers and formulate demands, but this piece will focus on the experiences of the labor process in particular. What the past year has shown is that these workers in the “gig economy” have become visible. They are finding new ways to resist, continuing to meet and organize, and this can not be hidden behind the digital platform forever. On Deliveroo Our focus will be on Deliveroo, who uses a stylized Kangaroo and turquoise branding. Across London the drivers have become ubiquitous, whether at road junctions or gathering near restaurants between deliveries. The company is estimated to have at least 20,000 drivers and cyclists across 84 cities in 12 countries. 4 To date, it has received just under $475M in funding. 5 Deliveroo has tried to differentiate itself from the competition by offering a way for customers, they claim, to “order amazing food from the best loved local restaurants who otherwise may not offer delivery.” It is complete with a founding myth about the CEO, a former investment banker, arriving in London from New York and being frustrated at the options for food. The solution was to develop an app, through which Deliveroo would “personally curate a high-quality and diverse selection of restaurants … the only thing you will not find on Deliveroo is low-quality takeaway restaurants.” 6 Deliveroo uses a legal arrangement similar to Uber to employ drivers on the platform. Technically, the drivers are categorized independent self-employed contractors. Deliveroo uses this status to claim that their drivers come from a broad network of entrepreneurs, rather than entering into traditional employment relationships. This implies that drivers are free to offer their services to a range of companies and can even send someone else to complete the deliveries. It is part of a process of “digital black box labor” in which the labor component of platforms is deliberately obscured. 7 Yet drivers have to pay a deposit to receive their uniform and are expected to wear them while completing pre-arranged shifts. It is an attempt to divest the company from the fiscal protections – minimum wage, holiday pay, sick pay, and so on – afforded to and won by workers. Increasingly, the prevalence of “black boxes” in society is hiding work and the experience of workers. 8 In this piece, we draw attention to the labor process at Deliveroo and what it is like to work on the platform. It has been collectively written between the Deliveroo driver Facility Waters (a pseudonym), and Jamie Woodcock, who is employed at a university where he researches work. We have experimented with different ways to collect and share information about working at Deliveroo. In particular, we have tried to peel back the black box, emphasising that work on Deliveroo is not seamless, but rather it takes place in specific geographic 3/21 locations in the city. We draw on inspiration from workers’ inquiry, which readers of previous issues of Viewpoint Magazine will be familiar with. Our experiment here is an adaptation of the ‘full fountain pen’ method, in which “intellectuals would be paired with workers … they would listen as the workers recounted their story, write them down on their behalf, and then have these workers revise the written documents as they saw fit.” 9 Although in our case one is not writing on the other’s behalf. Instead, we have collaboratively written on Google Docs and augmented our analysis with GPS technology and interactive maps. We encourage readers to explore the interactive map alongside the text. Part I Applying to Deliveroo The application process to work at Deliveroo involves filling out an online form (see Figure 1). This means that if you are looking for work you can start quickly, as Deliveroo could have you on the job within three days. Deliveroo has been investing heavily in public relations, both for new customers, but also aggressively recruiting drivers. Both authors have received leaflets in the mail and have seen an increase in targeted advertisements on social media, particularly since starting the research and writing process. The tone of the material channels Silicon Valley, combined with an informal style, presumably something that tests well in focus groups for so-called millennials. The Kangaroo logo gives the excuse to include ‘Roo’ into other words, for example: ‘foundeROO’ or ‘Roowomen and Roomen’ to refer to drivers. But most of all the advertisements for potential drivers stress the ‘flexibility’ of the role. Figure 1: https://deliveroo.co.uk/apply 4/21 Although the process for this particular job blurs with many of the others, I was notified that the online application was successful. I was called in to a temporary Deliveroo recruitment center – a warehouse converted to house, a call center, and somewhere to hand out equipment. The “interview” is not really an interview, instead meaning I turned up and had my bike given a basic inspection. Following this, I sat at a laptop to take a test – although it was not that hard as you can keep refreshing until all the answers are correct – and was then taken out on the roads for a further test. This involved cycling with another interviewee and a trainer, following the instructions on a smartphone app. The requirement was to navigate successfully to the location, not running any red lights, although it was not clear if there was a time limit. After reaching the first location, the second interviewee navigated to the next, then the group returned back. After a brief safety talk, there was another visit to the laptop, this time to fill out five years of previous addresses with exact dates and employment history, along with submitting to a credit check. None of these aspects were explained, nor were they present in the contract, and seemed excessive given the selfemployed contractor status. This feeling of losing control and becoming employed continued in the next steps. I was taken into the call center section, where another worker (also on a temporary contract) was called over to take my phone. They downloaded the Deliveroo app and ensured it was set up correctly. Following this, I was given a reference number and directed to a line to wait for equipment. Every worker has to pay a deposit, receiving the uniform and either a backpack or a delivery box (see pictures in later figures). On reaching the front of the line, another temporary worker tried to give me a box. These are the least preferred option as they have to be attached to the bicycle, giving less flexibility than the backpack. It also means at the end of the shift it can only be removed by dismantling it from your bike. This compares much less favorably than the backpack, which is more like the uniform, and can be easily removed after work. Either way, all the equipment can only be received if the worker pays a substantial deposit. The process is similar to induction at a call center on a zero hours contract, 10 starting with a large number of people in the room trying to figure out what is going on. It is not immediately clear what the job will involve, nor how long people will last on the contract. However, unlike the call center, at Deliveroo you cannot see how many people leave in the first week, as from this initial meeting people are distributed into different zones across London. The workforce at Deliveroo is split between moped drivers and bicyclists. The moped drivers work longer shifts, usually covering the entire day, and work much more frequently. The cyclists tend to work over lunchtime and evenings, picking up the extra demand as people order food mostly at these times. There are difficulties assessing exact numbers or ratios of mopeds to bikes – something that Deliveroo keeps to themselves like the overall numbers of drivers – but in general the moped drivers are predominantly migrant and male. On the other hand, the cyclists tend to be younger, mostly closer to 18 years old, and many are working alongside studying for A levels 11 or university degrees. There are 5/21 comparatively few women working at Deliveroo, but significantly more work as cyclists than moped drivers. White English people are the minority across both the roles. Both require complex driving skills as the riders navigate the traffic in London, but the cyclists also need a high level of fitness in order to complete the work. A Day Riding for Deliveroo My shift begins in the basement of the shop that I work in. Stooping a little, I put on my waterproof trousers and jacket before putting the lights and water bottle on my bike. I zip the battery block in one pocket with the charging cable plugged into my smartphone in the other pocket. I pick up my bag and make my way to street level. Every shift begins from home before I make my way into the zone center, the area that you have to be within to be able to clock in, cycling along one of South London’s main arteries, waiting to get to where Montpelier Road splits off of Queens Road – knowing that this is precisely the outer limit of my zone center (see interactive map). Looking at the map you’ll notice ‘ends’ to my shifts. This is because like many people in cities, where I can afford to live, is not where I was working. It also demonstrates, how I effectively turn my commute from a 30 minute cycle into a 3 and a half hour ‘extra’ shift on top of my main job. Figure 2: Map distributed by Deliveroo 12 6/21 I continue cycling while using the phone, and within a minute of clocking in I receive my first order. We only have the option to accept deliveries, and the only way to skip them is to ignore them, which takes a few minutes for Deliveroo to unassign you. Supposedly, this is bad for your ability to continue working for them, however we rarely receive any official clarification, and largely rely on sharing information and experiences between workers. I carry on cycling to Nando’s in Camberwell going past Kelly’s Avenue, the central point of our zone, where riders are suggested to wait for orders as it is should be roughly central to the restaurants we deliver from. It is here that riders gather, unlike with Uber and other platforms, meeting each other and building offline connections. Figure 3: Login screen, Zone center screen, Nando’s screen Today there is no-one there though, because I logged on 40 minutes before our shift starts. I did this because on other Sundays I have logged on early and been paid my hourly rate regardless of when I was officially down to do so. Sometimes this works, sometimes it does not. While I am certain there are specific criterion that Deliveroo payroll are using, I have no certainty of what these actually are. The other riders and I have our superstitions, but very little concrete knowledge. I get to Nando’s restaurant 10 minutes into my shift. Here we have our own corridor and counter, which is attached to the main kitchen but a separate operation to the front of house services that the restaurant provides. When I get close enough to Nando’s I can confirm my arrival and progress to the next screen, where I find out what I am meant to be picking up. Here it is not the listed food which really matters but the order number. As riders, we put responsibility for the order being correct with the restaurants, even if we are technically meant to be another point of quality control. I find I have been given a stacked order, meaning I pick up 2 deliveries at the same time. Again, the only option is to accept this, unless you are willing to phone the support line, be on hold for 5-20 minutes, ask to be unassigned, and have a note put on your record. I get the food in brown paper bags which are stapled shut and a numbered ticket attached. I put the orders in my thermal bag, zip up, and swipe through to the next screen on my phone. 7/21 Figure 4: Confirmed, Corridor, Stacked screen Finally, I now get to see where I actually need to go, and it is straight uphill. Six minutes later I get to the customer’s address, walk up their steps, and wait at the door. I give them their food and swipe through to see the next address: straight over the hill, down to a gated apartment building in Dulwich, and hand over the food to the next customer 5 minutes after the last. After confirming that delivery, the app tells me to make my way back to the zone center and wait to repeat the process. Figure 5: Order 1, Order 2, Return to center 8/21 After another 2 orders I decided to wait around at the adjacent zone center to mine. The Camberwell centre is on an industrial estate where Deliveroo has set up a collection of ‘Rooboxes’. These are mobile huts, which each contain a kitchen and 2-3 staff who only produce food for us to deliver – a customer cannot walk up and order directly. In appearance it is very like a hipster pop-up street food market, except the hipsters are geographically located elsewhere, in their home or office, and at the other end of the app. Here we collect food from Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Motu Indian Kitchen, Crust Bros or whoever else is set up there at that time. It all runs through a central distribution office (also a temporary structure) where Deliveroo staff call out your name and give you the food. Figure 6: Rooboxes site I sometimes prefer waiting at this zone center because they have an indoor break room with chairs and a free coffee machine, as well as some toilets. It is quite different from the other assigned meeting points across the city, often just a place for bicycles and mopeds to be 9/21 parked up. It is also close to a couple of restaurants which are in my zone, so I do not need to worry about missing orders or being told off and, if my zone goes quiet, I usually get reassigned to Camberwell anyway. However, instead of being reassigned to Camberwell, I was reassigned to Dulwich. Like orders, the app only offers the option to “accept” a zone move. Again, me and the other riders have our theories about what we can get away with, and we all occasionally sit out the 3 minutes of notifications every few seconds until the request is passed onto another rider. I start heading out to the Dulwich centre over Champion Hill (a hill in between a lot of restaurants and customers, in what would otherwise be a pretty flat zone) and within a minute I am given a new order. The order took no more than a minute to complete as the customer was less than 200 meters from the restaurant. Figure 7: Zone move request, Dulwich centre The next order is for Franco Manca, a trendy pizza chain only a few doors down from the last restaurant. It is another stacked order so I have to wait for both before I can see where I am meant to be going. There are a few other riders here already waiting, who say it is taking a long time for anything to be prepared. We chat about the weather, our bikes, our other jobs, how long we’ve been doing Deliveroo, the good and bad about it, and of course the wages, including how most of us would not bother with it if they changed us to a piece rate. This is the basic conversation that most of us have if we meet each other for the first time, but in your own zone you build friendships and find other points of common interest, strengthened through WhatsApp contact. I was waiting here for over 40 minutes, which means Deliveroo has missed its target of delivering within 30 minutes of the original order. One of the orders had already been given to me after about half an hour, and was just getting cold in my bag while I waited for the other. I got a phone call from Deliveroo Rider Support, saying that the customer had rang up customer services to ask where their pizza was. They wanted to know why I had not left, they could see on the map that I had been outside this restaurant, stationary, for too long. I explained that there was nothing I could do, it is the restaurant’s problem and I would do the best I could. When I got the second order, I delivered them both without any problems, and let the person with the cold pizza know that if they complained to Deliveroo they would 10/21 either get a full refund, or replacement order and get to keep what I had just delivered. All the riders I have spoken to about this specific issue said they do the same. We all know that Deliveroo can sort out free food and we are happy to share that knowledge with the customers – just so long as it is not our personal fault for the food being late. The restaurant’s delay in preparing the food meant I was already past the end of my shift. I continued to work until 35 minutes after my shift ended, assuming that I would probably still be being paid my hourly wage as well as deliveries. Technically, I could have logged out by phoning the Rider Support line, asking to be unassigned, then they could reassign it to someone else and I would leave the pizzas with the restaurant. However, the line gets jammed at 9:30pm as so many people are doing this, so being on hold takes just as long as delivering the food. And if you deliver the food you get the pay, so it is just not worth the hassle. A far from seamless interaction with the platform. Finishing shifts on time is rarely possible. There have to be almost no orders going through, as the closer you get to 9:30 the more people log off, meaning fewer people to take orders. This means you can log out early and lose money, or risk waiting and possibly be assigned more orders. I usually decide to stay on the app unless I’m exhausted, as by this time I am happy enough to be on the bike, thinking about how each extra pound makes things a bit easier. Part II Illusion of Freedom Working for Deliveroo on a bike presents a comforting illusion of freedom. You are on a bike, you can pick your route, and to a certain degree you go at your own pace. However, this comforting illusion is regularly unravelled. Sometimes a whole shift can be unremittingly shit. In the winter you have entire weeks in the snow, wind, or rain when the weather is -3 to 3 degrees Celsius 13 and all your shifts are in the dark. Your hands, feet, and face are numbingly cold and your body is sweating from your clothing and the exercise, but you still have to be aware of ice and wet leaves on the road and the bad judgements of other road users who are also inhibited by the conditions. In better weather, it is easy to memorize your route, and drift off into a daydream, only awoken as you get to the house though sometimes after the door has shut and the customer has taken their food, and often hours will pass and the daydream will go outside of the cognitive threshold of the repetitive, rhythmic movements towards the next point in a journey without any coherent direction other than its next point. This is analogous to Sadie Plant’s description of the way the digital worker “has only half a mind on the task,” that “she hears, but isn’t listening. She sees, but she does not watch. Pattern recognition without consciousness.” 14 The experience of a routine activity becoming near-automatic – especially those as risky as driving or biking in London – can be quite scary before reinforcing the estrangement we feel from these activities. 11/21 This daydream offers an interesting insight into how capital production is facilitated through the synthesis of technology, labor, and space. The fact that this synthesis occurs is not surprising, as the role of digitized routing is a way of augmenting the two dimensional “God’s eye-view” into our own visual interpretation of places. This “view from above is a perfect metonymy for a more general verticalization of class relations in the context of an intensified class war from above,” as the “proxy perspective that projects stability, safety and extreme mastery” 15 and, in the case of Deliveroo, is synthesized with the “eye which is dislodged from the realm of optics and made into an intermediary element of a circuit whose end result is always a motor response of the body to electronic solicitation.” 16 The eye becomes an “appendage of the machine,” in which sight is extended through the smartphone, whilst the bicycle mechanically extends the legs. 17 This form of vision is only novel in the sense that the required live cartography is accessible enough that precarious workers can be augmented with it, and it is cost effective as little investment is needed from capital (delivery platforms rarely, if ever, supply the necessary smartphone). If we consider that our “relation to the world is essentially artificial, technical” then “each human world is a configuration of techniques.” 18 Technology “only stands out in two circumstances: invention and ‘breakdown.’ It’s only when we are present at a discovery or when a familiar element is lacking, or breaks, or stops functioning, that the illusion of living in a natural world gives way in the face of contrary evidence.” 19 This notion has multiple implications: in the broader sense, the interest in the technology of Deliveroo, and its relation to capital stems from the fact that it appears as an invention, a novel recombination of existing sectors (logistics, apps, smartphones, flexible work), and on the other hand, in the subjectively particular sense, in that this confluence of techniques “configures a world” which is materialized through these techniques. 20 The worker intermittently exists in a flow outside of a conscious interpretation of the empirical surroundings – until a car pulls out unexpectedly, an address does not match up, or the servers crash. It is also an invention that regularly breaks down, for the user, the worker and, and consequently, for the company. 12/21 Figure 8: Servers downtime in January 2017 When the servers go down, a compensatory wage is supplied for the period of outage; however, under no other circumstances is this offered to workers. Of course issues also arise from mechanical failures for both vehicles and phones, with punctures and flat batteries being the most common for me as a bike rider. On top of this, I regularly had schedule clashes between Deliveroo and other jobs that I needed to prioritize. Moped drivers also manage a real risk of theft. Although I’ve had a couple of teenagers try to take my phone on a shift and I had two workmates who had their bikes stolen, the threat and consequences are far more serious for motorcyclists, who are likely to have more valuable vehicles and to have Deliveroo as their primary source of income. The extent of this 13/21 problem has lead to drivers forming self-defense groups in order to confront and attack thieves, something which cyclists have not had to do as of yet. These problems disrupt the flow of the work, yet remain hidden behind the façade of the platform. Despite these breakdowns, the illusion of freedom sets this kind of work apart from other precarious options. Unlike working in a call center or other service work, there is no demand to smile or use your emotions while delivering food. There is not the imposed “demands on the delivery and maintenance of packages of affects” found with selling in call centers, 21 so there is the cognitive space to have those kinds of daydreams. If you are lucky enough to get a tip, it is either set when the customer makes the order or handed over with the food in a brief exchange – sometimes just a hand from through the half open door – it is determined before the worker arrives at the door. The other notable difference with other kinds of work is the absence of supervisors or managers roaming the workplace and surveilling workers directly. The only contact with Deliveroo is mediated through the app or meeting other workers at the designated waiting points. This means being away from the supervisory gaze, not feeling the physical pressure to modulate behavior beyond meeting the time requirements of the platform. Vectors of Authority The closest I get to interacting with management on a day to day basis was outside Franco Manca when I received the phone call to check up on me. Even then, it was a phone call from a call center worker rather than a supervisor or a manager. What it shows, though, is the conglomeration of managerial techniques that they have available: platform user (customer, restaurant, or rider) feedback, and an algorithmically sorted accumulation of data. Deliveroo knows exactly when and where I am at all times I am logged into the app. This means that when discipline is applied, as in the case above, it is operating along vectors of authority. The term vector is not meant in any kind of metaphysical sense: the GPS tracking situates the rider in a four meter area through signals which travel in lines directly from terra firma to satellites. The tracking produces not just current location, but also distance covered and the time it has taken. These three factors produce the bulk of the data necessary for the management of each rider, by allowing rankings according to efficiency. Deliveroo maintains that they do not prioritize any riders over others, claiming that the rider is selected for each job according to how close they are to the restaurant. However, this seems incongruous to the technological rationality that they would want anything other than predictable efficiency. It seems even more superfluous when the realizable value in the data that is automatically collected might not be used. In practice, me and my colleagues are very aware that those who are faster get more orders, regardless of how far they are from each collection point. Although drone warfare is radically different to Deliveroo in a number of obvious ways, it nevertheless deploys similar techniques. Therefore it is interesting to contrast Gregoire Chamayou’s analysis that: 14/21 In contemporary doctrines of aerial power, operational space is no longer regarded as a homogenous and continuous area. It has become “a dynamic mosaic where insurgent objectives and tactics may vary by neighborhood.” We should see it instead as a patchwork of squares of color, each of which corresponds to specific rules of engagement. But those squares are also, and above all, cubes. 22 The difference is that optic is not oriented towards a contested territory or groups of people, but an individuated practice of power from above. There is no need for cubes when a phone in the pocket indicates all necessary information. To reiterate, this is not to say that the material outcomes of these operations are in any way comparable, only the verticality of perspective which reduces an individual’s movement and time into social profiles, where “activity becomes an alternative to identity” are. 23 What is shared is a common faith in quantitative data, a decision making process in based in pure positivism. Both Deliveroo and drone strikes rely upon networks of GPS satellites, receiving information only available through the military-industrial complex. The Deliveroo platform - enabled by GPS and smartphone apps - provides a real-time “God’s eye-view” of workers currently logged in. This produces a management perspective that is similar to a real-time strategy videogame – watching the city from directly above, viewing the abstracted “units” as they move around the terrain, and displaying live data flows of various kinds. However, unlike the power fantasy of the videogame, this perspective does not translate into the omnipotent ability to direct “units” through mouse clicks. It is therefore possible to capture this as a kind of “electronic panopticon” 24 – or perhaps even an “algorithmic panopticon” 25 – a dispersed center that can automatically collect and collate quantitative data from which, officially at least, workers cannot escape. However, unlike the architectural design of the panopticon, the supervisory role no longer has a physical manifestation. Instead, the worker is corralled with weekly emails that state whether or not they are meeting their targets. This synthesis of panopticism and Taylorism is exemplary of the individuation of capital production present in fully electronically mediated work, complete with time stamps and geolocations. The Politics of Knowledge Against this exhaustive data collection of data and the omnipresent God’s-eye viewpoint, this project began as a way to think about and discuss gig economy work from the perspective 15/21 of someone working at Deliveroo. We have presented here our initial attempt at an inquiry at Deliveroo. As a collaboration between a driver and a researcher, we have tried to explore the labor process and how it is experienced from the perspective of someone actually delivering food across London on the platform. As can be seen in the Figures, the minimum amount of data is shared with the driver at each point along the labor process. The customer knows even less within this interaction, only notified of the order acceptance and when the delivery has arrived. Between the two, the platform mediates access to the data – for the latter is unlikely to want to know more (after all the appeal of these platforms is quick and easy delivery of food), while for the former trying to gain more access to the data (not only from the platform more generally, but also their own) is extremely difficult. Each order, communication, journey, delivery, timing, GPS position, and so on is tracked and collated. This kind of data is created by the movement and interaction of people around the city, but its capture remains proprietary. These data sets are becoming an important resource for training machine learning algorithms, seeking to displace (at least in part) human labor. Click for more For the driver to understand their own data trail, it is possible to reconstruct parts of it from fragments of communication from Deliveroo, including the receipts for each delivery. The metrics by which the platform assesses performance are never made clear. Either the driver meets the targets or not, with no indication of the margins of success or failure. In addition to these methods, self-tracking technologies have been used to trace the routes around the city, a collection of data through another means that the platform already holds. In this way the inquiry here is also a contestation over knowledge of work at Deliveroo. The use of these technologies still produces a top down perspective with roadmaps. It is possible to make calculations, but these are still the calculations that are of most interest to capital. Like the RTS game perspective, it is individual and controlling, a view from capital onto workers. This raises questions – beyond the scope of the article here and the tools used at present – about how else the experience of work could be perceived and mapped. 16/21 Layers as meeting points When looking at the maps, it can be seen that the lines are unevenly distributed, that in many places there are considerably more than in others. The importance of this is fairly straightforward. It shows that there are routes which are more and less familiar to myself and to other riders. Our relation to these spaces is materialized each time we are in them. Together, as we work, we produce a topographical layer, where we converge intermittently. The uniform, which has become a ubiquitous part of London’s landscape, provides a double function. In one direction it serves to translate the worker into an aspect of the commodified food product: Deliveroo and its riders are marketed as being synonymous with the food it delivers. But in the other, it allows for reciprocal recognition between co-workers, where we can nod or wave as we pass, or chat during waiting periods. These factors, among others, operate in such a way that a social field is produced. In the emerging literature, there is an all too often gesture towards the gig-economy as being the highest point of alienation, 26 mainly trying to moralize against the use of such apps and services as opposed to providing space for a nuanced interpretation of it, or even of what it is. If instead we attempt a geographically sensitive understanding of Deliveroo, then we see how localities are formed “as a social phenomenon, not so much a singular or specific place, but more as a densely acquired network of familiarity that spans across people and places.” 27 Drawing back from the individual maps, it is possible to take in the bigger picture of how Deliveroo work is conducted in and through the environment of London. The risk with this kind of work is to overemphasize the digital dimension, focusing on the novel management techniques and methods of technological surveillance. A broader recognition must be made here: that Deliveroo is contextualized socially and spatially in the cities that it operates in. From my interaction with them in London, I have seen how they occupy spaces that are temporary or rent-free, from kitchens in temporary 17/21 buildings to publicly maintained roads as logistical routes. The coalition between capital and the state has effectively sanctioned and legitimized so much of the reality of city dwelling. High rents and Right-to-Buy, Buy-to-Let and property speculation, poor housing regulations and underfunded councils, inflated costs of living and long working hours – these Click for more 18/21 things are neither legitimate nor natural, they are produced by the amalgamated tendencies of “austerity” and neoliberalism – both of which function within the paradigm of capital accumulation. And such conditions are instrumental to recruiting labor-power for Deliveroo. Steve Hanson has written on the “the dialectics of working and not working” where he dissolves “the fake, state barrier between official and unofficial economic activity.” 28 Through his own ethnographic work of an English town bombarded by austerity he unpacks how “on-and-off” work and “getting-by” are related to the “precariousness of everyday life.” 29 The dissolution of the binary between employed/unemployed allows us to recognize that “paradigms and people are dialectically connected, they all contain each other as part of a wider assemblage.” 30 Austerity and underlying economic conditions combine to produce unofficial economies as people try to make ends meet beyond regular Fordist employment, which, over the last few years, the ever innovative gig-economy has tended towards formalizing and monopolizing each sector that presents itself. The neoliberal project of creating individuated entrepreneurs is an “ideal type” for the gig-economy worker. A selfcontained economic unit, an independent biography creating their own story. The container as “a dumb, indifferent, interchangeable materialisation of capital’s abstract circulation.” 31 Hanson suggests that this “‘containerization’ can be thought of as a metaphor, but only if one inverts it, because when metal boxes began containing objects, they did so to distribute them more widely and quickly … capitalism deterritorializes in order to territorialize, but it does not do so to trap people or objects in one place or any landscape, all of which are becoming steam.” 32 Legally self-employed micro-entrepreneurs are in a way the negative of the jet-set executive, a person who is forever in transit, virtually mobile, closing a deal and moving on. Two sides of the same coin. Deliveroo could only emerge under certain economic and social conditions, just as much as it will only survive in cities where the relationship of production can be reproduced. This means that flexible, “extra” work must be necessary to a large enough portion of the population, that wages within the capitalist centers are significantly higher than in “peripheral regions” and that the necessity of “getting-by” is economically and disciplinarily enforced. It is in these oppressive feedback loops where the producer-consumer dialectic is folded upon itself that companies such as Deliveroo, AirBnB, and Uber can proliferate. As many have noted, they are not produced by “technological” feats: “the form innovation takes within capitalism is as the continual simulation of the new, while existing relations of power and control remain effectively the same.” 33 These new arrivals are low-asset, lightweight corporations which are well suited to the slow-growth recession economy. 34 They shouldn’t be critiqued in isolation, as they are not singular entities. After all, they are continuous with the historical and geographical domains they parasitically root themselves in – whether its bedrooms, hired cars or our streets. We have seen how in Brighton one of the demands from the Deliveroo workers’ protests was to immediately cease recruitment. This was because the reality of piece-rate work and a workforce greater than work available created an 35 oversaturated region where riders often would work entire days for a couple of pounds. 19/21 It must be remembered too, that Deliveroo is in no way producing absolute “places” or totalities. Like other platforms, it is superimposed into localities that are familiar and livedin. They are interrelated to the “unlimited multiplicity or unaccountable set of social spaces which refer to generically as ‘social space.’” 36 The intention behind reiterating the interaction between this work, sector and locality is simply that if we metaphysically enclose Deliveroo as a subject in itself then we cannot unfold its ambiguous continuities. Occasionally when I’m at the Camberwell site (see above), I will see an Ocado truck pull up to deliver ingredients to the “restaurants”. Ocado is an on-the-day, food distribution company that operates from warehouses, with an app and a website creating a customer interface without a shopfront. The operational similarity of Ocado and Deliveroo shows how localities in logistics operate on different on different scales which are layered between and on top of one another, and how the concealing of labor is consistent in both levels. When working, many other riders have conversations through their headphones, or with their phone jammed between the side of their head and the padding of their helmet. The conversations I overheard glimpses of what were in many different languages presumably to other parts of the city, country or world – in short, to other places. Whilst I and others daydream, others continue to make use of their vocal faculties to voluntarily maintain their own social contemporaneity. Here, we see other possibilities of the fragmentation of experiences, where the worker is simultaneously occupying social space here and there, deterritorialized and diffuse. Few jobs offer this kind of freedom to communicate. For example, both authors’ experience of working in call centers offered the opposite of this – in that you do not have the possibility to daydream or talk freely on shift, but also in the periods outside of work conversation can be difficult or intolerable. 37 This aspect of Deliveroo is an example of how workers operate beyond the immediate locality and beyond the surveillance of supervisors, in ways which aren’t necessarily counterproductive and are therefore beyond the managerial field of vision. Conclusion The social and spatial qualities of Deliveroo means that a topographical layer is always in a process of becoming, where associations and familiarities with the terrain, riders, and restaurant workers are formed. These interactions can provide rich and pleasant experiences, and the work is often enjoyable, as is the company of other workers. The ability to miss some shifts without the fear of losing the job is a truly valuable aspect. In the words of IWGB’s Jason Moyer-Lee: “flexibility that works for the worker is a marvellous thing. What we do say is that these companies need to abide by the law. Just because some of their workers have flexible work arrangements, that doesn’t mean you can deny them basic rights. 38 We could not agree more. The assumption that flexible work is categorically incongruous with financial stability is a fallacy. Being able to legitimately refuse work is a cause worth fighting for in the courts, in parliament, in streets, and most importantly in the workplace. 20/21 A strategic approach to pursuing workers’ rights in the gig economy is a necessity. For the first time in many years we have a meaningful socialist opposition in the UK, with parliamentary members like John McDonnell taking a serious interest in precarious workers’ rights. In recent months, the Labour party look like they have an increasingly viable chance of entering into government. The courts in the UK have already confirmed ‘worker’ status over that of ‘self-employed’ to many of the Doctors Laboratory, CitySprint and Uber workers. 39 Ultimately, workers must be able to take collective action, and the proof that this is possible is still fresh in many drivers and riders memories. The election of a Labour government or the favorable ruling of a court cannot deliver counter-power in the workplace. It is therefore important to remember that this began with a non-unionized wildcat strike of workers from around the world which gained international recognition, a crowdfunded strike fund of £10,000 within the week long dispute, and most importantly: a defeat for management. It is only when workers are at the forefront of the struggles that we can demand and win the conditions we desire. At Deliveroo one difficulty is knowing what is being fought against. Earlier I noted that many of the rules presented to riders are through implication, and that we often have to rely on experience, intuition, and guesswork to navigate each shift – and to also keep the job over a period of time. For example, in the time it has taken to write this piece, Deliveroo has already changed its rules so that uniform is no longer necessary, removing the equipment deposit scheme, that the piece rate is now opt-in for most London zones, and have relaxed restrictions on signing up for shifts. A lot of these changes seem to be performative gestures to appease the ongoing court case, yet they still have real consequences in reducing the possibility or effectiveness of collective action. Despite this, we can look to recent history for reason to be optimistic. A strike by UberEats workers in August 2016 had many Deliveroo riders striking in solidarity – a phenomena consistent with the strike action taken in Bordeaux in March 2017. This optimism is based on the critical understanding of insurrectionary behavior as: …something that is constituted here [that] resonates with the shock wave emitted by something constituted over there … not like a plague or forest fire which spreads from place to place after an initial spark. It rather takes the shape of music, whose focal points, though dispersed in time and space, succeed in imposing the rhythm of their own vibrations, always taking on more density. 40 As the intensity of capitals’ occupation of everyday life 41 through the “gig-economy” and its contestations of space progress, so too do the rhythms of de...
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