These New Co-op Apps Show How to Build Worker Power In the Age of Uber--For many labor activists,

[eridani]

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18970/labor-rights-to-come-for-uber-and-aribnb-employees

“tech” has become a dirty word. While Silicon Valley extols the virtues of the “sharing economy,” critics argue that platforms like Uber and Airbnb allow investors to reap profits by circumventing labor law and ripping off workers.

But what if workers owned the apps? A new movement called “platform cooperativism” hopes to harness the power of tech to democratize the economy and advance labor rights.

In response to the proliferation of app-based services, some unions have begun trying to make inroads with Uber drivers and other gig workers. Platform cooperativism embraces a different principle, articulated by movement advocate and New School professor Trebor Scholz: “It’s too hard to fix what you do not own.”

Instead, Scholz explained in a January overview of platform cooperativism, workers can embrace the kinds of technologies that have emerged from Silicon Valley and put them to use “with a different ownership model, adhering to democratic values.”

Platform cooperativism comprises a variety of businesses, ranging from media platforms like Stocksy (a cooperative that provides stock photography) to online marketplaces that hope to offer alternatives to tech-giant Amazon and its ilk. Though many of the businesses emerged independently of one another, they are united by common principles rooted in equality and transparency.

Some platforms are already proving that they can give traditional Internet companies a run for their money. Stocksy is a particularly successful example: Started in 2013, it has a collection of 500,000 photos and has paid out over $4 million to its 900 artist-members.