Author: Martijn Arets / Source: The Next Web
In my research on the platform economy, I’ve seen a trend of trade unions mainly attacking websites like Uber and Deliveroo. However, I’d like to argue that their focus on a hostile approach is a mistake and they need to consider another tactic.
Let me explain why.
We need to talk about the gig economy
The time is ripe for a serious conversation about the gig economy. In recent years, classifieds on the back of a local newspaper and in call centers have widely been replaced by online platforms like Uber (taxi), Helpling (domestic cleaning service), DoorDash (local delivery), and TaskRabbit (gigs).
The so-called ‘gig economy’, in which people are hired and paid through an online platform or app for (mostly short-lived) gigs, is still of minor scale at this point. The commotion around the gig economy is about the future. The Dutch ING Economic Bureau predicts that online platforms will take over 20 to 70 percent of the temporary employment market, depending on the legislative and technological developments.
Organizations defending the interests of workers generally fear such developments. Trade unions in particular dread the fact that employees will become more vulnerable by the platformization of labor. Effort to have platform constructions checked in court have led to mixed outcomes.
The debate is still far from coming to a conclusion. Personally, I regret the fact that trade unions and platforms are taking opposite positions, as I’m of the opinion that this cannot lead to long term solutions. Hence I want to discuss which unique elements platforms can contribute to the gig economy in terms of worker welfare. Platforms might not be a curse, but a blessing for trade unions.
1. Platforms also benefit from happy workers
Platforms benefit from happy platform workers. First and foremost because drivers at Uber and bicycle deliverers at Deliveroo are the company’s physical faces. They have offline contact with the clients they recruit online.
Secondly, because workers can easily switch to any competitor at any time. We observe a rising number available platforms and yet platform workers have no obligatory contracts with any app-based platform. In order to keep the workers satisfied, the growing market and the increasing number of platforms both have a positive effect on the way platforms reward the supply side. Taxi-app Uber, for example, is currently experimenting with additional bonuses to try to foster the way drivers bond with the platform.
2. Platforms centralize a fragmented and invisible market
Most often it seems that platforms offer new kinds of services, although this myth is long busted. An app does offer convenience and efficiency, but cleaning, baby sitting, and delivering pizzas are nothing new in itself. Moreover, the majority of these kinds of gigs aren’t arranged by any platform at all.
Deliverers ‘hired’ by restaurants are still in charge of transporting a vast majority of all meals. Figures by the European ordering website TakeAway.com show that, as an example, restaurants’ own deliverers distribute about 98.6 percent…
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