Megacorp execs were interviewed about the #WGA strike & were quoted saying their goal was to "break the WGA," and to drag things out "until #union members start losing their apartments and homes"

After corporate counsel reminded the execs of *labor laws*, an update was released saying that actually the execs did not want to make workers homeless in retaliation for exercising labor rights because that would violate #labor laws so its all a big misunderstanding

https://deadline.com/2023/07/writers-strike-hollywood-studios-deal-fight-wga-actors-1235434335/

Just finished reading a recent (2023) article on organizing #GigWork #GigWorkers by Rafael Grohmann, Mateus Mendonça, and Jamie Woodcock. It investigated how digital communication platforms play a more central role in organizing delivery platform drivers/riders, (1) due to the preconditions of having a smartphone to engage in the work at all, and (2) due to the affordances/circumstances of both the gig work platforms themselves and the various social media platforms that the workers flock to.

It investigated (1) the lack of direct communication with bosses and its replacement with algorithmic management, (2) the migration of gig workers to social media in search of solidarity (typically into cohorts along territorial and personal lines), and (3) how both (1) and (2) ultimately led to meaningful in-person labour struggle in the form of successful pickets of local vendors and public shaming protests of their working conditions.

Social media organizing took the place of the traditional shop floor and break room chats; group admins took the place of traditional union stewards; public shaming campaigns took the place of traditional strikes.

Ultimately, the "public shaming" approach, organized over social media and branching out into social media and traditional media relations, while ultimately not bringing immediate, material *wins* to the *workers*, *did* nevertheless take *off* 2 billion dollars of the #Deliveroo IPO in #london

Their conclusion notes that social media conglomerates were not built with worker activism in mind, and that any successes built upon their backs are thus contingent. I strongly agree there, and also agree with their suggestion of building alternatives. I think community-owned and co-operated delivery platforms could be such a viable alternative, especially if mandated, preferred, or at least permitted by local statutes.

The methodology of embedding within the struggles, personal interviews, and systemic monitoring of social media I think lends credence to their analysis.

Journal URL: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/17764

PDF URL: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/17764/4211

#socialism #communism #marxism #capitalism #TradeUnionism #TradeUnions #LaborUnions #LabourUnions #union #unions