Florian Forestier: How to "desuberate" the economy?

Florian Forestier co-wrote with Mathias Dufour, Franck Bonot, Odile Chagny the collective work Désubériser - Regendre control at Éditions du faubourg.

FIGAROVOX.- How to define the “uberization” of the economy? Is this phenomenon only a consequence of the development of the digital applications that you cite in the introduction, or is it more generally the achievement of an additional stage in the flexibilisation of the world of work?

Florian FORESTIER.- The term designates the transformation of an economic sector by the arrival of a digital player, who comes to strike and overturn the organization of existing companies, the balance of power between them, and their value chains. In itself it is a source of innovation and it is positive. The problem is if this "disruption" is at the expense of workers' rights and working conditions, which happens for some platforms.

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This movement is currently concentrated on a few sectors of mobility, logistics, local services, but it aims to extend to many other sectors. The covid crisis has acted as an accelerator for the “platformization” of the economy.

Uberization is more than an additional step in making the world of work more flexible: it brings to light new economic and work organization models. At the heart: data exploitation and the use of algorithms.

In a context of significant economic recession, and while observers all predict an increase in unemployment, is it not a little "inflated" to attack you with services which provide a source of income to a significant number of workers French?

Warning. The arrival of these companies has not only had negative effects, far from it. The offer has been disrupted by the exploitation of new technological innovations, easier access to employment for certain populations, the customer experience often improved, with an obvious stimulus for the historic companies of the sectors concerned (such as taxis). .

Does this innovation give the right to be free from the competition and social rules that apply to traditional market players? This is more questionable. The regulations for activities such as the transport of people or deliveries have been around for a long time. There is no reason why they should not apply to platforms. But that means adapting them to digital whenever necessary. Anyone can create jobs by drastically lowering the cost of labor, but why do we accept from certain platforms what we do not accept from elsewhere?

In the context of the current crisis, it is all the more necessary that the work of platforms develops in good conditions. We must avoid letting a "secondary" market develop in which workers would be forced to accept degraded working conditions.

This question is also linked to the economic model of some of these companies (fortunately not all) whose activity (typically the delivery of meals.) Does not produce great added value. They therefore tend to play exclusively on the remuneration of workers and their working conditions. If we consider that the crisis will lead to a rise in e-commerce, favor short supply circuits, as much to ensure that this is done under "fair" competition conditions, and in a framework that respects legality.

What are the “new forms of dependency” that workers face? Wasn't uberization a promise of emancipation and autonomy for them?

This is the whole paradox indeed. A promise of autonomy and emancipation, but algorithms that create strong power asymmetries between workers and platforms. The algorithms set the prices of the services and their methods. This algorithmic subordination (which does not spare skilled workers) goes even further. Applications encourage workers to act in such and such a way by sending them notifications, offering them shopping, etc. However, there are currently no means of recourse and action against these new forms of authority, even if we see that the desire to regulate platforms is advancing on a European scale, through the GDPR, of the Platform to Business regulation, or reflections in the context of the future Digital Service act. Nothing prevents us from thinking about the ethical design of algorithms.

Digital technology also has the potential of decentralized governance models, where emancipation takes on its full meaning, as in the case of freelance platforms, for example in the form of digital freelance collectives.

"Take back control": is this not wishful thinking? Does France have enough leverage to develop a more virtuous model? Is the reclassification into salary contracts by the French judge of certain “uberized” jobs sufficient?

The public authorities have an obvious responsibility, in particular in matters of laying down norms and rules, everything is not the responsibility of the State, on the contrary. The book sets out to explore the different levels of action, and to highlight what is possible for everyone.

Service platforms have a very localized activity. Cities have negotiation capacities to establish new balances with platforms and support virtuous actors. In London or New York, there have been long-standing prior authorization schemes for taxi and hybrid car booking centers, taking account of criteria of good repute, insurance, etc., in order to oblige operators - therefore also platforms - to comply with certain user safety requirements.

Elsewhere cooperative (like Ride Austin in Texas or Coopcycle or Olvo in France) or semi-public platforms are developing. Jean-Louis Missika, deputy mayor of Paris, suggested in 2019 that the city equips itself with an algorithm similar to that of the platforms and coordinates it with its offer of mobility of public transport.

Will the platforms accept more rigidity? Would it not simply be the bankruptcy of their model?

Applying the same rule to all players in the same sector does not imply more rigidity but simply more transparency.

What's more, the platforms are extremely agile and scalable businesses. The crisis has once again their tremendous capacity to transform and adapt extremely quickly to regions and situations, for example by establishing partnerships with retail chains.

Read also: Deadly uberization? "It is not the machine that is dangerous, it is our excessive confidence in it"

The objective of the proposals contained in the book is to encourage these platforms to position themselves on more value-creating segments, the adjustment variable of which is not social but service! Some platforms are deliberately engaged in a social responsibility approach. Differentiation seems to be Uber's strategy, which multiplies services and establishes partnerships with car manufacturers to develop autonomous cars, etc.