Is there any such thing?

I’ve just been listening to Ken Loach plugging his new film ‘Sorry We Missed You’ and his subject matter is so very relevant to us as consumers. He was discussing the gig economy and in particular, delivery drivers. Obviously, delivery drivers are being taken advantage of by big business and as consumers, we contribute hugely to that. He touched on care workers as well, another part of our economy where workers simply don’t earn enough money and work in a tough environment.

As consumers what can we do? Do we have a responsibility to the people that work in the gig economy or are we entitled to chose the cheapest option without being held responsible for the negative aspect of our purchasing decisions and the subsequent negative effect of the gig economy on our society?

I can’t wait to see Ken’s film.

As consumers what can we do?

Simple: elect a political party prepared to put people before corporate profits.

All that needs to happen is to ban gig workers and force companies to pay benefits, pensions, holidays, tax etc.

It will put a few companies out of business eg Uber/Deliveroo, but it’s for the greater good of society. Plus they’re loss making companies anyway, so it would be just hastening their inevitable end.

As consumers what can we do?

Get off our collective arses and go and get the things we want.
Stop waiting at home for someone to bring them to us.

Gig? Does that word now have another meaning? Never heard it used in this context.

Get off our collective arses and go and get the things we want.
Stop waiting at home for someone to bring them to us.

Yeah, shopping, in shops, with all those PEOPLE around, proper viable alternative that 🙄

Simple: elect a political party prepared to put people before corporate profits.

I don’t think it is as straight forward as that. Far too many consumers expect “Free Delivery” without thinking about anything but themselves. How would you suggest that they are convinced they need to vote against their expectations? Surely a better idea is to assess the true cost of delivery, damage to the environment etc and charge accordingly, making all the costs clear to the consumer at the time of purchase.

Cheap fashion clothing is another one. People I talk to never really think about the stupidly tiny cost of their new clothes and where it was made and by whom, the conditions they need to work in to achieve those tiny price tags.

Get off our collective arses and go and get the things we want.
Stop waiting at home for someone to bring them to us.

Surely it is better to display and charge the true cost of delivery rather than remove choice and convenience? Can’t the gig economy work for all those involved, the producers, the consumer and the delivery driver? Sure we might need to pay a bit more but it would be worth it.

Gig economy is just a term for zero hours contract type work. Common in live music for decades, now elsewhere. This is just part of the ‘race to the bottom’ that’s talked about with regards to being ‘free’ from EU regulations. Business profit first, then worry about social and environmental impacts. Report out today from British Retail Consortium about job losses on the High St. Jobs here are more regulated, therefore labour force more costly. If we want cheapest price, someone else pays.

It’s nothing new, the name or group we hold up as the “victim” changes but its been going on since we crawled out of the sea, its been slaves, foreigners, children, Mill workers, farm labourer, feudal peasants and so on. Pick a time period and you’ll find a big chunk of people being taken advantage of by a smaller richer/stronger/taller/whiter group.

This week it’s the gig economy but really its just poor and rich people.

It needs a wholesale change in nature to fix it,. workers of the world unite, end of history that sort of thing. Until then think of it like a workhouse, the wage is terrible, the conditions exploitative but both are better than not being in one.

Get off our collective arses and go and get the things we want.

Stop waiting at home for someone to bring them to us

Aye, very handy if you live somewhere remote/rural.

There has been talk of putting tachos in 3.5t vans for a long time but nothing ever happens. Everyone knows the drivers of them can be doing dangerously long hours but the impact on the economy of restricting their hours as is the case with bigger vehicles frightens everyone off.

Simple: elect a political party prepared to put people before corporate profits.

Is the correct answer.

When it comes to stuff like buying a T-shirt for £1, or driving, or air travel. That’s easy on a personal level as you can (and should) fairly easily isolate and avoid them.

“Free Delivery”, firstly it’s never free. That’s why google has a “total price” filter, or shops have “spend £30 and get £5 off”, it’s not £5 off, it’s just another way of saying “Spend £30 and we’ve made enough profit to cover the postage”. And has no bearing on the delivery itself, CRC free delivery via RM, A-N-Other shop via Yodel.

I’ve made a real effort over the last 6 months not to drive and to cycle as much as possible. From cycling to work, to cutting ~400 miles off a trip to Scotland by bike packing from Cumbria instead. The car only gets used now when there’s a hard to avoid need (this weekend that means a 500 mile round trip, but that’s because there isn’t a but/train that would get me to Rotherham for 8am on a Saturday).

Get off our collective arses and go and get the things we want.

Stop waiting at home for someone to bring them to us

A van doing deliveries is going to emit a lot less pollution than the equivalent number of people going into town (unless they all ride a bike, which would be nice).

Speaking of, why don’t deliveroo do deliveries? Surely Amazon etc could use them to deliver all the small stuff that fits through letterboxes and doesn’t need a van?