Cooperatives 4.0 – a ‘Fair Trade’ Alternative to the Exploitative Gig Economy?
Summary
One of the biggest challenges in the United States is the increasingly tense battle between the growing numbers of ‘gig workers’ – independent contractors, often on short-term contracts or working on a job-by-job basis – and the massive, investor-owned, on-demand technology platforms that are taking over a greater share of the nation’s work.
This past year has seen Uber driver strikes across the country, Seattle’s recent move to allow gig drivers to unionise, and a stronger push to figure out a better system to define gig workers.