What’s Going on in the Workforce
“Vicki, you know what I’m looking for.” Excellent piece on how employers use temp agencies to practice discriminatory hiring against black workers.
“…with other gigs or gig-economy employers available, drivers may be less invested in reforming a single company.” Good piece from Buzzfeed (I know!) on the struggles that workers have in organizing work stoppages against Uber.
Ian Williams has started a new column to talk about labor in the video games industry. h/t to reader Eric Rosso for pointing that out…
“Uber currently limits its drivers to 100 hours a week…” Is that really a limit, though?
Organizing Theory
There’s been a lot of talk in New York & DC lately about how to experiment with portable benefits for independent contractors—some folks in Minneapolis may be willing to experiment with a model of paid sick leave that includes them.
Interesting post by the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England, on their work to understand how collective action develops among users to influence a platform (think Uber strike, or Reddit blackout).
Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
“If you’re committed to the worker…if you want to empower minority women…the worker co-op is the way to go.” The Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance just put out this short film, profiling 4 worker-owned businesses in Philadelphia.
From Partners
Meet “The Internet of Ownership,” an effort to advance platform cooperatives around the globe.
Geeking Out
The Feds just agreed that Google’s AI technology can count as the “driver” in a self-driving car.
The 3-D printer that can print human tissue replacement.