Neoliberal Reforms, Labor Rights and the Sharing Economy in Mexico Josemaria Becerril - Jacobin | |
go to original January 30, 2017 |
The share economy makes life more convenient for a lot of people. But companies like Uber and Airbnb have their share of critics. So what exactly is the share economy? And who are some of its winners and losers? (AJ+)
Mexico’s neoliberal reforms have created fertile ground for exploitative “sharing-economy” apps to grow.
Apli’s business model is relatively straightforward. Job seekers register with the app. When businesses — mostly restaurants in gentrifying areas looking to reduce their costs and minimize their social and labor obligations — request a temp worker, the app offers the shift to one of its registered partners. When the partner agrees, her “service provision contract” begins. The contract, as the Apli receptionist reminded us, grants no labor rights or social security, only the payment of wages.
The contract also makes the partner’s responsibilities clear: she must take care of all the risks and associated costs of providing this temporary work. When a partner accepts an offer, she must bring her own tools and uniform, cover her transportation and lunch costs, and pay taxes on the income. To become an Apli user, partners must accept these precarious and burdensome conditions.
According to Apli, the app provides workers with flexibility and freedom, echoing the neoliberal fantasy of becoming your own boss. In practice, however, it can unplug a user after he rejects three offers. Further, in exchange for providing a service that gets cheaper everyday, Apli charges businesses 100 pesos (roughly $5) for every shift. Apli’s investors rake in these fees every time a worker accepts an offer.
Despite these obvious downsides, the app has become very popular. Although it only launched in July 2016, its founders say that 4,000 regular users have already worked more than 500 hours each. Important venture funds like ALLVP, Sonar, and BlueBox have poured more than $450,000 into the startup. The app’s popularity among users and capitalists have produced comparisons between it and the most successful examples of the American sharing economy like Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit.
From the point of view of Mexico’s already precarious labor rights and social welfare provisions, however, this comparison is nothing to be proud of. The 2012 labor code — which legalized outsourcing, reduced unions’ bargaining power, and incorporated contract regimes that help enterprises reduce costs — already paved the way toward precarization. Now, as sharing-economy apps become more accepted, entrepreneurs and investors are profiting while workers keep getting poorer
Read the rest at Jacobin
Related: Improved Workers’ Rights for Mexicans Will Benefit Americans (The New York Times)
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