WHY THE SHARING ECONOMY IS HARMING WORKERS – AND WHAT MUST BE DONE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2015

WHY THE SHARING ECONOMY IS HARMING WORKERS – AND WHAT MUST BE DONE

In this holiday season it’s especially appropriate to acknowledge how many Americans don’t have steady work.

The so-called “share economy” includes independent contractors, temporary workers, the self-employed, part-timers, freelancers, and free agents. Most file 1099s rather than W2s, for tax purposes.

It’s estimated that in five years over 40 percent of the American labor force will be in such uncertain work; in a decade, most of us.

Already two-thirds of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck.

This trend shifts all economic risks onto workers. A downturn in demand, or sudden change in consumer needs, or a personal injury or sickness, can make it impossible to pay the bills.

It eliminates labor protections such as the minimum wage, worker safety, family and medical leave, and overtime.

And it ends employer-financed insurance – Social Security, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, and employer-provided health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

No wonder, according to polls, almost a quarter of American workers worry they won’t be earning enough in the future. That’s up from 15 percent a decade ago.

Such uncertainty can be hard on families, too. Children of parents working unpredictable schedules or outside standard daytime working hours are likely to have lower cognitive skills and more behavioral problems, according to new research.

What to do?

Courts are overflowing with lawsuits over whether companies have misclassified “employees” as “independent contractors,” resulting in a profusion of criteria and definitions.


We should aim instead for simplicity: Whoever pays more than half of someone’s income, or provides more than half their working hours should be responsible for all the labor protections and insurance an employee is entitled to.

In addition, to restore some certainty to people’s lives, we need to move away from unemployment insurance and toward income insurance.

Say, for example, your monthly income dips more than 50 percent below the average monthly income you’ve received from all the jobs you’ve taken over the preceding five years. With income insurance, you’d automatically receive half the difference for up to a year.

It’s possible to have a flexible economy and also provide workers some minimal level of security.

A decent society requires no less.

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

The "sharing economy," also known as the "gig economy," the "on-demand economy," or the "uncertain economy," is exploding—think Uber and Airbnb—but few people are talking about what it'll mean for the social safety net built in this country over the past century. In five years, this new economic trend will encompass 40 percent of American workers.¹ 

That's why it's important that we take action now to figure out how to provide critical labor protections, even as our economy undergoes massive changes. 

Can you make sure your family and friends are talking about what's needed in the "sharing economy" by watching and sharing my latest video with MoveOn? 

We have to help make sure the changing economy works for workers by preventing the elimination of worker protections such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, worker safety, family and medical leave, and more.

Help jump-start this national conversation by watching and sharing this video now.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Source:

1. "The secret number to the sharing economy," TNW News, June 25, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=308312&id=135818-19913724-BHB4VMx&t=3 

ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books, including the best sellers “Aftershock, “The Work of Nations," and"Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His film, INEQUALITY FOR ALL is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon. His new book, "SAVING CAPITALISM: For the Many, Not the Few" is out 9/29. 

The TRUTH will set you FREE.