The labor market has undergone a sea change in the last 20 years. A full third of US workers are part of the independent workforce, including gig workers, contract workers, freelancers, and sole proprietors. And yet, key provisions in our labor regulations do not cover independent workers.
What's more, platform companies have further changed our idea of work. If you sell your labor on a platform, you're not an employee of the platform—you're an entrepreneur.
Well, those entrepreneurs are starting to ask questions. I am, too.
Today's episode examines one organization's attempt to organize the indie workforce. The Indie Sellers Guild formed in the wake of a strike action in April 2022 by 30,000 Etsy sellers. I spoke with executive director Chiarra Lohr about what they've been up to, the challenges they face, and the victories they've already celebrated.
Plus, you'll learn a bit about the history of working women's organizing in the US—starting back in the 1830s!
Footnotes:
EP 471: The Many Hats of Leigh Stein
EP 470: Rethinking Creativity—A Cautionary Tale
NEW: World-Building for Business Owners
EP 469: Building Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Kate Tyson & Charlie Gilkey
EP 468: Figuring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate Tyson
EP 466: Making Room for Others with Leonie Smith
EP 465: Learning Empathy from Copywriters & Doppelgangers with Samantha Pollack
EP 464: Decoding Accessibility with Erin Perkins
EP 463: A Brand is a Constellation with N. Chloé Nwangwu
EP 462: Decoding the Language of Empathy
This is Not Advice: Process Entropy & Process Evolution
EP 461: My Nemesis
EP 460: In Defense of Gimmicks
EP 459: Sorry, self-promotion doesn't work
EP 458: How many layers are too many?
EP 457: How to Define Hard-to-Define Work Stress
EP 456: Reprogramming Our Source Code
EP 455: The Case for Uncertainty (And How to Navigate It)
EP 454: Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Stuff
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