Unionizing the Gig Economy?

The gig economy keeps growing, but its workers are fed up

Blog Post #2

Since 1998, temporary employment has risen from 11.8% to 13.3% representing 3.5% of Canada’s total work force.  Although this may seem like a low percentage, gig economy workers such as ride sharing, and food delivery services are equivalent to 700,000 full time employment positions across the country but lack many of the benefits and rights that employed union workers are entitled to.  Thousands of workers are intrigued by the “be your own boss” motto that gig business preach but this flexibility and freedom is often coupled with instability and mistreatment (Treleaven, 2019).   

            Gig economy workers have had enough of the unpredictability of their employment and working conditions and have begun to rally and push for unionization in hopes of securing paid work leave, injury benefits and more stability in their wages and hours.  Some workers are fearful that a bike accident can put them out of work for weeks without being able to make money or receive compensation and that they lose valuable working hours in instances such as delayed flights. Many share the same thoughts and feelings that these large companies are taking advantage of the limited availability in the secure job market to exploit freelance labourers to work for low wages and extensive hours.  To stand up and reclaim their workers right’s, Foodora, which is a food delivery company, has been looking into joining the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and Uber drivers have expressed interest in becoming a part of the United Food and Commercial Workers Unions.  Their goals are to gain access to collective bargaining and procure a stronger voice to advocate for their rights (Treleaven, 2019). 

(Wisterberg, 2017)

            With that being said, there are many concerns over how gig companies that lack a sole employer and place of work can successfully unionize.  Also, the process of unionization may take away aspects of the gig economy that many people are drawn to such as the flexibility of the workday and the independence to work as many hours as they wish (Treleaven, 2019).  Although there are many employees in these companies that use the gig economy to make a little extra cash on the side or help pay for their education and living necessities while in school, the reality is that there is also a very large number of workers who rely heavily on their employment in the gig economy for income and survival.  A recent study by Statistics Canada showed that almost 50% of employees in the gig economy had no regular job, and half of these workers are reliant on their wages from their gig work for more than 75% of their total income.  Since these jobs require less skill and formal education, gig companies allow for women, immigrants and low-income Canadians to claim employment. But, this does not mean that they should be denied the benefits they would receive from other workplaces, deeming the move to unionization not only valid, but essential (Lewis, 2019).

(Catalan, 2016)

            The procedure of unionizing gig companies is not a new or impossible concept as these same companies, Foodora and Uber, have already unionized in other countries like Norway and Japan (Treleaven, 2019).  Using Japan as an example, the country recognized the insecurity of their Uber driver’s working conditions and offered their 15,000 workers injury compensation and are in the process of applying the same efforts to Japan’s other 3 million freelance workers (Uber Eats, 2019).

            I believe that unionizing gig style companies is an adequate and feasible solution to the labourers concerns regarding workers’ rights and receiving equivalent benefits to those working in full time employment.  Since a large number of Canada’s working population is employed in the gig economy for their livelihoods, companies should model after countries such as Japan to make temporary work more stable and secure for the workers.   Just because gig work advertises freedom in one’s employment doesn’t suggest that workers cannot make a minimum wage, have health and accident coverage and be protected from algorithm layoffs (Treleavan, 2019).  Therefore, unionizing is way to give these workers a fair and secure employment experience where they are able to make a living while still accessing the independence of gig work.    

References

Lewis, M. (2019, December 17). One in 10 Toronto workers is now a gig economy worker, StatCan says. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2019/12/16/one-in-10-toronto-workers-is-now-a-gig-economy-worker-statcan-says.html

Treleaven, S. (2019, December 11). The gig economy keeps growing, but its workers are fed up. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/the-gig-economy-keeps-growing-but-its-workers-are-fed-up/

Uber Eats delivery staff in Japan form labor union. (2019, October 3). Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/03/business/corporate-business/uber-eats-delivery-staff-japan-form-labor-union/#.XoD8_xNKhQI

Image Citations

Catalan, J. (2016, March 9). A Female Uber Driver Tells All. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/03/105521/female-uber-driver-essay

Lannehensley. (2019, May 13). ‘What other industry would allow that?’: What it’s like to work for service apps. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://globalnews.ca/news/5262120/working-for-service-delivery-apps/

Wisterberg, E. (2017, March 12). I spent two weeks delivering for Uber Eats and made $4.4 per hour. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from https://www.breakit.se/artikel/7599/i-spent-two-weeks-delivering-for-uber-eats-and-made-4-4-per-hour

Mental Health Matters in the Workplace

Blog Post #1

Poor mental health is something numerous Canadians experience at some point during their life and many times a decline in an individual’s psychological health can be attributed to their occupations and places of work.  Many employees experience stress from excessive workloads, depression from time away from their family, or a sense of fear and anxiety from workplace harassment. Due to instances like these, every week 500,000 Canadian employees are unable to work, and this massive loss of working hours has resulted in an annual economic cost of $50 billion and $6.3 billion lost in productivity (Weikle, 2019). 

A close up of a map Description automatically generated
(Government of Canada, 2016)

            This graph above demonstrates that although stress can induce optimal performance from an increase in attention and interest, too much stress can impair a worker’s performance to the level of low arousal.  In order for workers to be motivated to complete their duties with success, it is essential to place pressure on the workers. With that being said, if workers experience little reward, abuse, unattainable expectations, poor work environment, or have little opportunity for growth, the employees are more likely to lack motivation and experience lower mental wellbeing causing reduced productivity (Government of Canada, 2016).

Thankfully due to the decreasing stigma surrounding mental health, workplaces have become more aware of the hindering effects poor mental health has on employees and how it effects the company’s productivity and growth.  Based off a study conducted by Deloitte, they discovered that for every dollar invested in mental health in the workplace, there is a return of $1.62 and a return of $2.18 if mental health programs have been implemented for three years or longer (Weikle, 2019). 

            To encourage positive mental health, employers, management and organization teams need to focus their time to eliminate stress in the workplace and encourage their employees to participate in physical activity, healthy eating and mediation. To optimize employee’s productivity and mental health, companies should concentrate their efforts on preventing negative mental wellbeing rather than dealing with the treatment.  Additionally, allowing workers to take days off and enable a smooth and gradual transition back to work will likely decrease burn out and maintain employee happiness and morale (Weikle, 2019).

            Deloitte isn’t the only company that has taken steps to improve their mental health program as one third of Canadian employers have mental health strategies (Weikle, 2019).  Starbucks Canada for example has pledged to give $5000 a year to its employees to cover therapy costs and many companies are following in Starbucks footsteps with improving their mental health initiatives (Anderssen, 2016).  Millennials are a generation that advocate for mental health and if a position they are interested in lacks mental health support, they are likely to turn down the job leaving the company without their talent and skills (Weikle, 2019).  

I believe that investing in mental health is not only important for the employees, but for the benefit of the entire company as well.  With happy and healthy employees comes better opportunity for economic growth and prosperity.  Employers must remember that their employees are people too and must take the appropriate steps to ensure their mental health needs are noticed. 

Please let me know your thoughts and opinions on my post!

References

Anderssen, E. (2018, May 17). Why Starbucks Canada’s investment in mental health therapy matters. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/why-starbucks-canadas-investment-in-mental-health-therapy-matters/article32252755/

Government of Canada. (2016, July 14). Psychological Health in the Workplace. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/health-safety/reports/psychological-health.html

Weikle, B. (2019, November 7). Workplace mental health programs deliver healthier bottom lines | CBC News. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/workplace-mental-health-programs-deliver-good-roi-1.5346872?__vfz=medium=sharebar

Feature image sourced from…

Muneeb, A. (2018, October 22). Mental Health in the Workplace. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://thriveglobal.com/stories/mental-health-in-the-workplace/

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