The Gig

When I started this project, I thought I would just be collecting stories of what it was like to work in the gig economy.  I had no idea so much organizing was going on.  I kept hearing about protests in so many cities.  Nairobi.  Jakarta.  Sao Paolo.  Paris.  Toronto.  And other places.  And I started asking drivers why they felt driven to organize?  This episode features inspiring stories of drivers on four continents who took on Uber and other ride-hailing companies.  They share a vision of how gig workers can organize everywhere.

*This episode was updated on August 27

Uber has been ignoring the law with impunity around the world.  But is the tide turning against Uber and other ride-hailing apps?  Pushed to the brink, drivers around the world have started using the law to fight back.  In this episode we speak with drivers in the UK whose precedent-setting case is moving to the Supreme Court.  In California, we talk to organizers who decided not to wait for the courts but to change the laws.  We find out why California's AB5 matters more than ever now that we are facing record unemployment.  And we start to untangle the links between worker classification, big data, and tax evasion.

In this episode you’ll hear a tale of two cities: Cape Town and New York. In Episode 1 we learned that the Uber business model was control over drivers. In Taxi Wars we learn that it’s also about controlling the regulators. You’ll hear how when the ride-hailing app companies came to new cities they didn’t just try to disrupt markets but to dismantle them.  Through the story of Derick, a driver in Cape Town we hear how the company operates in places where laws are weak. And then we meet NYC’s former Taxi and Limousine Commissioner, Meera Joshi, who tells us how she won her battles against Uber and Lyft and how other cities can fight for stronger enforcement.

I wanted to understand why people would drive for Uber.  In this episode you'll meet some of the drivers I met and interviewed:  Tess from South Africa, Rebecca from California and Yaseen from London, UK.  They were lured onto the platform by the promise of partnership but they found it was a bait and switch game.  As more drivers crowded onto the platform, and fares went down, they learned something else too:  that the company wasn't just making money off the rides.  It was harvesting their data.

There was so much going on this week we decided to do this special 6 minute flash pod to keep our listeners up to date!  We've been tracking gig workers' legal battles around the world and this week's Supreme Court ruling in Canada was a great excuse- and important update to Episode 3, Judgement Day.  But there were so many more actions against Big Tech this week including an Amazon workers' strike in Germany, the #StopHateForProfit campaign against Facebook, an important data sovereignty ruling in India and more driver actions in France, Brazil, Argentina and California.  Catch up on the news as you wait for our next episode, The Gig Is Up!

We love hearing stories about working people.  While The Gig focuses on the future of work, it's important to remember the past too.  That's why we love Liz Medina's En Masse Podcast, featuring oral histories of workers past and present.  En Masse is centered around the town of Barre, Vermont but it becomes a microcosm for the world in these stories exploring experiences of class and capitalism.  Listen to this trailer and find En Masse wherever you get your podcasts.

Meet drivers around the world who have been taking action to take control of their lives back from Uber and other ride-hailing apps in Season 1 of The Gig.