Ho fatto una lunga conversazione live a giugno 2024 con un attivista sindacale, Enrico Coppotelli della CISL Lazio. Uno dei temi era proprio quello dei diritti dei rider. Non solo in termini di trasparenza e come vengono trattati, ma anche cose semplici ma essenziali come dove andare in bagno o poter ricaricare il cellulare che gli assicura gli ingaggi. https://www.youtube.com/live/DBJRW0TKg6Y?si=l5DVBcMjZONc39By&t=1830
David Orban "What is the question that I should be asking?" davidorban.com On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 8:46 AM Alberto Cammozzo via nexa < [email protected]> wrote: > < > https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/21/its-a-nightmare-couriers-mystified-by-the-algorithms-that-control-their-jobs > > > > > Most days a thicket of couriers can be seen around the McDonald’s in > Northern Ireland’s Ballymena, waiting for orders and discussing the > mysteries of the systems that rule their working lives. > > This week gig workers, trade unions and human rights groups launched a > campaign for greater openness from Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo about > the logic underpinning opaque algorithms that determine what work they do > and what they are paid. > > The couriers wonder why someone who has only just logged on gets a gig > while others waiting longer are overlooked. Why, when the restaurant is > busy and crying out for couriers, does the app say there are none available? > > “We can never work out the algorithm,” one of the drivers says, requesting > anonymity for fear of losing work. They wonder if the app ignores them if > they’ve done a few jobs already that hour, and experiment with standing > inside the restaurant, on the pavement or in the car park to see if subtle > shifts in geolocation matter. > > “It’s an absolute nightmare,” says the driver, adding that they > permanently lost access to one of the platforms over a matter of a “max > five minutes” wait in getting to a restaurant while he finished another job > for a different app. Sometimes he gets logged out for a couple of hours > because his beard has grown, confusing the facial recognition software. > > “It’s not at all like being an employee,” he says He is regularly > frustrated by having to challenge what appeared to be shortfall in pay per > job – sometimes just 10p, but at other times a few pounds. “There’s nobody > you can talk to. Everything is automated.” > > The app companies say they do have rider support staffed by people and > some information about the algorithms is available on their websites and > when drivers are initially “onboarded”. > > But similar frustrations simmer in Lincoln, where at 9pm one evening, > Lucas Myron was delivering burgers, fried chicken and groceries when > without warning a chunk of his work stopped. One of the two takeaway apps > he used suddenly ceased to function. Without warning, half of the > father-of-one’s gig economy income vanished. > > “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “What happened?” > > It wasn’t easy to find out. “A human boss would try to speak to you and > say what has happened,” he said. “But [on this app] you can’t really > connect with them.” > > A few hours later he received an email explaining that the app company had > “taken the decision to revoke access” to his account because he had been > elongating his journey to the pickup point, taking longer than reasonable. > It didn’t add up, but there was no straightforward way to find out more. > > It wasn’t until weeks later, when he exercised his legal right to request > data held about himself, that he was told something completely different: > the app company believed he had tried to manipulate the system to > undeservedly earn extra fees for waiting at restaurants to pick up orders. > > This had been spotted by team members, the app company claimed. An > apparent algorithmic intervention was now being described as a human one. > But when Myron looked back at his pay records, he could see none of the > fees he was accused of taking. It was discombobulating. > > “I am not the only driver,” he says. “A lot of people lose their accounts > for no reason.” > > Into the information vacuum left by the disembodied algorithm, he > speculates: was he pushed off for also using a rival app? There is no > evidence that is the case, but none of the evidence presented to him about > why he was deactivated added up either. So trust crumbles. Now relying on > only one app, he struggles to make £10 an hour, less than the statutory > national minimum wage. > > > James Farrar has long experience with work on algorithm-driven platforms. > When he worked as a minicab driver on the Uber app he joined forces with > fellow driver Yaseen Aslam to bring a legal case against Uber. It ended in > a UK supreme court verdict that Uber drivers should be granted greater > employment rights – including a minimum wage and holiday pay. Now a > campaigner for precarious workers, he maintains a Deliveroo account. > > One quiet afternoon in his area of Surrey he seemed to be the only courier > logged on to the app, so he was able to watch as the algorithm asked him to > pick up a delivery from a BP garage. Every six or seven minutes the app > asked him again, each time quoting him a different fee: from £14.74 it fell > to £12.30 and rose to £16.08 in the space of less than half an hour and > kept swinging – in all a 45% margin in the wage on offer. > > “Every worker should understand the basis on which they are paid,” Farrar > said. “But you’re being gamed into deciding whether to accept a job or not. > Will I get a better offer? It’s like gambling and it’s very distressing and > stressful for people. > > “You are completely in a vacuum about how best to do the job and because > people often don’t understand how decisions are being made about their > work, it encourages conspiracies.” > >
