Authors: Ra Criscitiello, SEIU-UHW Deputy Director of Analysis; David Levine, ASBI President & Cofounder; Michael A. Peck, 1Worker1Vote government director & cofounder
One other Large Company Lie rises to scare Generations Y, Z & Alpha employees into false selections with unhealthy outcomes. In an opinion piece revealed final month in The Hill, “Biden’s warfare on freelancers hurts younger entrepreneurs most”, the writer claims the Biden Administration goes after worker-friendly gig firms like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash to stifle office freedom and gig economic system entrepreneurialism for “fifty-eight million People — about 36 p.c of our workforce”. (https://thehill.com/opinion/4422408-bidens-war-on-freelancers-hurts-young-entrepreneurs-most/)
The acknowledged false selection turns into one in every of “the perils of a conventional job with commonplace advantages and entry to affix a labor union”, versus daring to insist on dwelling wages, honest working situations, household and neighborhood sustaining advantages, and the suitable to unionize. Exhausting to sq. this in a rustic the place over 80% of People help unions and wish to be a part of one as proven by autoworkers, Starbucks baristas, Ben & Jerry’s scoopers, and SAG-AFTRA media professionals going the additional distance to guard their livelihood rights.
Corporations exploiting 1099 labor, like Uber, admit that avoiding prices and advantages related to respectable employment observe are very important methods to goose revenue margins (UBER admitted this formally when submitting its IPO). These firms are immensely worthwhile and have performed the regulatory scare sport on autopilot locking employees into unfair company contracts, exploiting know-how, shirking accountability, and pocketing revenue margin differentials.
In accordance with Ra Criscitiello, Deputy Director for Analysis, SEIU-UHW, “There may be nothing even remotely new about predatory, low-wage work. Calling it “gig work” is simply giving a brand new identify to a sadly very lengthy lineage of companies rigging the system in opposition to employees for their very own achieve. The creativity, flexibility, and entrepreneurialism both truly or theoretically desired by employees is under no circumstances at odds with formal employment and isn’t hindered by the Biden administration or varied states’ efforts to safeguard in opposition to predatory gig work practices, together with misclassification.”
Deliberate worker misclassification denies dwelling wages and advantages to the wage-dependent employees who earn them. On this distorted, “American entrepreneurialism” mindset, solely suckers select to pay advantages and dwelling wages, manage to strike, or care about what they’ll do for others to advance a larger widespread good. David Levine, American Sustainable Institute President, observes there isn’t any gig free lunch, and that “alternatives to make larger financial earnings include equal mandates to deal with employees accountability beginning with employee-worthy dwelling wages and advantages.”
Permitting predatory gig economic system firms the choice to increase advantages to employees solidifies much more energy favoring company hearts and minds already predisposed to unfair employee practices. So-called “Profit Financial savings Accounts” would let firms prolong particular bonuses to their freelancers.” Honest pay with healthcare for respectable work undergirding lives deserving primary dignity can’t be thought of somebody’s company bonus pool to award by fiat when the straightforward act of doing so represents primary social justice.
The place are the zero-sum preconditions figuring out that the Sharing Economic system & the On-Demand Economic system can’t be structurally as worthwhile for employees as for house owners and for employees turning into house owners? Values- aligned and purpose-driven enterprises embracing employee possession with democratic governance show that it’s humanly, operationally, and mathematically attainable to attain all the above.
Collective bargaining stands as antidote to predatory gig labor firms selling union busting, deliberate wage misclassification, office discrimination and retaliation. Collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) consolidate mission-aligned values, construct office solidarity, and improve productiveness by way of employee satisfaction, and extra natural workforce data impacting enterprises.
Importantly, collective bargaining agreements might be crafted to permit for and even encourage flexibility and entrepreneurialism. The high water mark is exemplified by unionized employee cooperative CBAs which are typically gentle on work guidelines and, since they’re inherently values aligned amongst ‘labor/administration,’ centralize employee committees and different solidarity pathways for employee voice, affect, empowerment and management.
The battle over false selections with unhealthy outcomes for gig employees continues with recurring headlines corresponding to, “Uber to counter California’s labor muscle with $30M political spend” (instance: POLITICO https://www.politico.com/information/2024/01/24/uber-counter-california-labor-muscle-00137562?cid=apn). As a substitute of the limitless backwards and forwards, let’s level the taking part in area for workforces driving multinational gig enterprises ahead by way of custom-made collective bargaining agreements that supply office stakeholders creativity, flexibility, and entrepreneurial alternatives based mostly on a good selection and a good deal to guide skilled lives with dignity and aspiration.