The Gig Economy

[Benton]

(05-13-2019, 08:24 AM)Au165 Wrote: Let's me pivot for a second and I'll go down a different path than I have been because something interesting is happening. Everyone here caught up with the "they changed the pay" argument let me ask a you a question. Have you ever worked somewhere where they have changed commission rates? I have, and so has probably anyone who has ever worked on commission for long periods of time. Why is this some moral injustice? They didn't change the rate on any services already rendered, so how was I or anyone else wronged? I CHOSE to continue to work at the adjusted rate.

Not sure why you're jumping from 'this isn't a good business practice' to 'this is a moral injustice.'

But to answer your question, I have. Same company twice paid me less than minimum wage after they switched to a "more consistent" pay method. They still do it to people. 

Quote:Now back to the post here, no see they didn't actually take the job based on the payout because signing up for the app isn't taking a job (As the courts have agreed with).

I'm not getting into legal definitions of words. They agreed to become drivers for those companies (as opposed to working for a taxi company or driving a bus) because of whatever reason. Logically, the pay rate was probably a factor for many. I'm not going to spend a lot of time juggling the logic of people doing a job for a company for money and whether or not someone else defines that as a job.

Quote: The app is a platform for finding work, think of it as an Angie's list type site that handymen use. 

The difference being that Angie's List doesn't tell the plumber he has to fix the clog for X dollars. The plumber sets his price. If Uber wants to let drivers set their rate and take X commission, then I think there's less of a deceptive issue. 

Quote:They are contractors on a platform looking for work and each time they turn on their app and accept a ride they have taken a "job" like a contracted brick layer accepting a new job on a construction site. After they drop off their rider they are now out looking for a new job as a contractor. The rate could change at that moment as they look for a new job and then they must decide if they want to take anymore jobs on this platform, or they can go choose to work on another platform that may offer jobs that are more lucrative. 




The funny thing in all of this is there is a national taxi driver union. Isn't that kind of ironic?

We'll eventually get back around to that, but not for a while. Big business has spent a ton on making sure "labor" and "unions" are bad words. I wonder how many of the drivers trying to get people to organize and protest are also guys who would say 'I'd never join a union, they're bad.'