It’ll be interesting to see what happens once all the workers in the gig economy recognize the power they have to just destroy these companies. Uber can’t really retaliate people organizing against them because they aren’t employees.
They are too poor and too desperate to be unemployed for long, they have no benefits, and many will be replaced with robots.
The gig economy is an underclass. They are serfs. Unless they rise up violently nothing will change.
They have the power to vote, arguably much more influential then money.
> They are too poor and too desperate to be unemployed for long
If they are too poor, they also qualify for food stamp and a bunch of other benefit that YOU are paying for ! Its a transfer of wealth from your work / pocket to rich Uber shareholders like Saudi Arabia.
> and many will be replaced with robots.
Unlikely, especially for last mile, and in cities ( where most people live )
> The gig economy is an underclass. They are serfs.
Most of us are "serfs" to somebody, unless you are retired or are living off your investments.
> Unless they rise up violently nothing will change.
Not really, they just need to vote, DJT is an example, Bernie maybe next.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/voter-turnout-2016-ele...
You always get the best strategic advice on the internet!
The real answer is that they're a new category that doesn't fit into 20th century US employment law.
But until the law catches up to reality around 2048, I guess the category that's least wrong is "contractor".
All Uber has to do is raise the wages of the drivers who don’t strike. This will encourage other drivers to give up the strike and start driving again. Once enough drivers are back, Uber will lower their wages again.
And they could probably automate this.
They do. It's called surge pricing. If there are not enough drivers prices go up. And yes, drivers definitely notice and go drive when they see surge pricing is in effect.
If these drivers actually think striking is going to do anything, they have no understanding of economics.
Uber gives them income they otherwise would not have (if they had better employment options they would use them - especially in the current excellent economy).
So why would they want to destroy their source of income?
When Uber and Lyft left Austin, a bunch of companies popped up very quickly to fill the gap. It isn't clear to me what you are investing in if you were to buy Uber shares.