Re:FTC to crack down on companies taking advantage of gig wo...
by probably_wrong on Saturday September 17, 2022 @05:08PM
(#32881589)
I agree with you that this is capitalism, but I wouldn't take that as a positive. If anything, this is society (via the FTC) reigning in some of the worse aspects of capitalism.
Every "obligation" that Uber and friends avoid with its gig workers policy (health insurance, accident insurance, unemployment, retirement) falls on the shoulders of the taxpayer. The companies are privatizing the profits and socializing the costs (which is something that capitalists like to do) and society is arguing that this is not what they want. It's the same reasoning for forcing construction companies to pay for the safety equipment of their workers even if market forces would prefer the workers to pay for it themselves.
Every "obligation" that Uber and friends avoid with its gig workers policy (health insurance, accident insurance, unemployment, retirement) falls on the shoulders of the taxpayer. The companies are privatizing the profits and socializing the costs (which is something that capitalists like to do) and society is arguing that this is not what they want. It's the same reasoning for forcing construction companies to pay for the safety equipment of their workers even if market forces would prefer the workers to pay for it themselves.