‘Fairtube’ and the like: Labour Rights for Digital Platform Workers

School of Labour Studies Speaker Series presents:

Dr. Eva Kocher, C*LLaS Centre for Interdisciplinary Labour Law Studies, European University Viadrina, Frankfurt, Germany
In the summer of 2019, the German metal workers’ trade union IG Metall joined forces with “YouTubersUnion”, founded by a Youtube partner in 2017. Their joint campaign “fairtube” is in for more transparency and fairness on Youtube, while at the same time accusing YouTube of disguising employment as false employment.

The seminar will use this conflict as the cue to discussing social protection of digital platform workers.
– What do YouTube partners have in common with Foodora riders? And how do both share concerns and interests with metal workers, retail salespersons and hair stylists?
– Do digital platform workers need labour rights or do they rather need digital rights – does it even make a difference?