Introduction
The platform economy is a laboratory for the future of labor, deconstructing the myth of a technological revolution. In reality, it is a return to old forms of exploitation, where the algorithm replaces the foreman and flexibility masks insecurity. This article analyzes risk transfer mechanisms, new forms of resistance, and upcoming legal regulations aimed at restoring agency to digital workers.
Gig economy: A return to nineteenth-century forms of labor
The platform model is a "very old new idea"—a return to piecework and cottage industry in a digital format. The tools are new, but the logic remains the same: the degradation of the worker to the role of a service provider.
The Great Risk Shift: Transferring risk to the contractor
The key mechanism is risk transfer: corporations clear their balance sheets by offloading the costs of tools, health, and insurance onto individuals. In this model, existential risk is completely privatized.
Three logics: The conflict between market, technology, and labor protection
The modern gig economy is shaped by the clash of three forces: the drive to minimize costs, the civic struggle for social rights, and the logic of automation, which treats humans as objects.
Algorithmic management: Automating supervision and penalties
The "No boss" slogan is a smokescreen. The boss becomes an impersonal system that exercises full organizational control over the contractor through push notifications and rankings.
OZZS WBREW: Courier self-organization in the Polish context
The response to exploitation is OZZS WBREW. The union fights against double oppression: the fiscal rigor of an entrepreneur combined with the lack of protection afforded to full-time employees.
Good Jobs Strategy: Job quality drives company profit
This strategy defies market dogmas by recognizing the worker as a key asset. The example of Managed by Q shows that stable employment and decent wages guarantee higher profitability than the gig model.
France vs. Israel: Two models of digital labor regulation
France focuses on a normative model and the reclassification of contracts by courts. Israel chooses pragmatism, utilizing the Employer of Record status for global remote work platforms, among other measures.
Independent contractor: The fiction of autonomy in the shadow of the algorithm
Logical analysis exposes the contradiction: platforms claim they do not exercise control, yet they effectively manage pricing and working hours. The fiction of entrepreneurship serves only to optimize costs.
Stop gap: Platform work as a bridge technology
Kessler calls the gig economy a "bridge technology." Humans perform micro-tasks (so-called artificial artificial intelligence), training the algorithms that are ultimately intended to replace them entirely.
EU Directive: Presumption of employment and algorithmic transparency
EU law introduces a presumption of an employment relationship. The platform will have to prove it does not exercise control over the contractor, reversing the current order that disadvantages workers.
PIP Reform: New powers in determining employment status
In Poland, a planned reform is set to allow the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) to establish full-time employment via administrative decision where working conditions meet the definition of employee subordination.
The courier and the farmhand: The precarious continuity of exploitation
Despite the new scenery, the situation of the courier and the historical farmhand is strikingly similar: both are characterized by low bargaining power and total dependence on a stronger principal.
The Social Dialogue Council: Helplessness in the face of the precariat
The RDS is sometimes criticized for focusing on the traditional full-time employment model. It systemically excludes those who, for their clients, are merely a tax ID number or an avatar in an app.
Good State Foundation: An advocate for repairing labor relations
The Good State Foundation works toward repairing labor relations, promoting the law as a guarantor of minimum social decency and supporting modern legislative initiatives.
Summary
In a world of algorithms, the key question is: will technology liberate us, or will it create new forms of dependency? The future of work depends on rejecting the fiction of self-employment and recognizing that control entails responsibility. Building a fair digital ecosystem requires innovation to go hand in hand with dignity and social security, rather than serving solely to optimize costs at the expense of the individual.
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