Revolutionary Optimism and Gig Economy Organizing
A workshop with Sarom Rho and Gig Workers United
Saturday May 21st, 2-4PM
We walk it to make it, we fuel it to burn it, we let it to grow it, we build it to win it. On May 1, 2019, Foodsters United, now known as Gig Workers United, publicly announced our struggle and intent to fight misclassification and unionize. To date, multinational tech companies like Uber are pouring millions into a campaign to normalize inequality, precarity and poverty, all in the interests of corporate greed and profit. To date, workers hold our collective line and vow to accept nothing less than full and equal rights for all of us. Our concept of us remains ever expansive.
Together in this workshop, we will look at the geographies of gig economy organizing and activate a multi-chaptered story of how low-waged, migrant and racialized gig workers find each other, assemble and root ourselves in an international working class struggle. As an entry into exploring the many its that revolutionary optimism asks of us, and through open-ended discussion, participants will experiment with locating and writing themselves into this story of worker power and the gig economy.
Note: this event was cancelled due to a tornado warning. In lieu, Sarom Rho and Gig Workers United put together this Questionnaire to Oneself; and ode to Audre Lorde’s self-guided questionnaire and an invitation to work through the topics planned for the workshop.
SAROM RHO
Sarom Rho is a migrant worker and organizer based in Toronto. Of three, two of her organizing homes are with the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and Gig Workers United.
GIG WORKERS UNITED
Gig Workers United, supported by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), is both full-time and part-time delivery app couriers; racialized and migrant workers; women and trans people; international students; and people with families. We are organizing for the transparent pay, livable wages, improved health and safety conditions, and labour protections we deserve.