Introduction to Labor Power for the Platform Economy Now! as Part of Who Owns the World? PCC Conference at The New School 2019

Summary

Rebecca Lurie at Who Owns the World Conference, convened by the Platform Cooperativism Consortium at The New School in November 2019. Lurie introduces guests to “Town Hall 2 – Labor Power for the Platform Economy Now! Digital Labor Is Now Free” discussion panel.

About This Town Hall
The world of work is not working for too many people. Labor Law in many countries including the United States is broken. That’s why we ask: What are innovative forms of associational power for workers in the gig economy? Can we re-imagine and rebuild the gig economy in a fundamentally fairer way? How important a role does ownership – and Employee Stock Ownership Plans in particular- play in creating leverage for platform workers? How aware are workers of the ownership option? Do cooperatives emerge when unions fail, or do unions have an essential role to play in co-op development? How much hope do we place in the enforcement of AB5, a law passed by the California State Senate requiring platforms such as Uber and Lyft to treat their drivers as employees? How can technology help to link up, organize, and empower geographically dispersed workers?

Rebecca Lurie  is the founder of the Community and Worker Ownership Project at the City University of NY School for Labor and Urban Studies and the Murphy Institute where she also serves as faculty in the Urban Studies Department. She is a founding member of the worker-owned cooperative, New Deal Home Improvement Company. She began her working career as a union carpenter and transitioned into worker education through the union’s apprenticeship program and the construction industry.