Advancing Decent Work in The Platform Economyy

The purpose of this interactive event organized in a virtual setting is to convene diverse stakeholders to share insights and brainstorm ways forward to better address decent work in the digital economy, particularly with respect to platforms that provide ‘gig’ work.

This two-and-a-half hour workshop will bring together experts and advocates to tease out critical issues with respect to promoting decent work in the platform economy. Three broad and interrelated regulatory challenges will be explored. First, what are the data governance challenges with respect to worker data, for workers and for regulators? Second, what elements of antitrust/competition policy need to be addressed to create space for platform business models that support decent work? Third, what are the labor and employment law challenges and where do our industrial relations frameworks need updating for platform work? 

This multi-stakeholder exchange will bring together experts, advocates, platform workers, labor organizers and practitioners to think through new approaches to regulating platform work, connecting the dots between the data governance, competition policy, and labor law challenges for a holistic approach to the digital economy and platform work. We hope that this conference will provide the space for smaller working groups to share knowledge and strategies that can be further developed at a larger event, which Cornell University’s Worker Institute will be hosting on November 12-13, 2020.

Welcome & rules of engagement

Keynote speech: Regulatory challenges from worker perspective

Panel discussion: Setting the stage for breakout sessions

• Edward Ongweso, Event Moderator; Journalist, VICE
• James Farrar, Founder, Worker Info Exchange
• Meera Joshi, Former NY Taxi and Limousine Commissioner; New York General Manager, Sam Schwartz 
• Valerio De Stefano, Professor of Labor Law, KU Leuven 

More speakers to be announced soon…

Breakout sessions – 1 hour

         Breakout 1:  Worker organizations role in data governance

         Breakout 2:  Government role in data stewardship for decent work 

         Breakout 3:  Changing competition policy to enable decent work 

         Breakout 4:  Updating labor and employment law for the digital economy 

This event is organized by Open Society Foundations in collaboration with Cornell ILR Worker Institute