Trebor Scholz: Stuck in the gig economy? Try platform co-ops instead | TED

翻译人员: Hangyuan Liu 校对人员: Helen Chang

Meet Esmeralda Flores.

这是 Esmeralda Flores

She is a home cleaner in New York City.

她是纽约的一名家政保洁

And like so many home cleaners, she's using a tech platform, an app,

她和许多家政保洁一样 使用一家科技平台的应用程序

to connect to clients.

来联络客户

But unlike other home cleaners, she's making $25 an hour,

但和其他保洁不一样的是 她一小时能挣 25 美元

which is twice as much as she used to make at her previous company.

这是她上一家公司薪酬的两倍

And she makes a living wage.

她可以靠这份薪水维持生计

There's no algorithmic boss at her company

她现在的公司不会依靠算法

that changes the pay or hours from under her feet,

在她眼皮子底下 篡改她的薪水或者工时

so she has some stability for her family.

所以她能够让家庭有一份稳定的收入

And every week, the workers at this company are meeting

公司的员工每周都会开会

to decide how to run this company.

来决定公司的运作方式

They decide on the operations.

他们决定公司如何运营

Esmeralda receives training in finance and management,

Esmeralda 接受了金融、管理

and in conflict resolution.

冲突化解方面的培训

And it really makes her grow as a person within that company.

让她得以在公司内部实现个人的成长

So now, you might be asking, like,

此刻你一定想问

"What kind of company is that?

“这是个什么样的公司？

I've never heard of a tech platform that gives benefits like that.

我从没听说过哪个科技平台 会提供这样的福利

How do they do that?"

这公司到底是怎么做到的？”

So the answer is Up and Go,

这个公司就是 Up and Go

and it's not your typical tech platform.

它不像你见过的那种典型的科技平台

It’s what is called a “platform cooperative,”

它被称作“协作式平台”

which means that the workers, the house cleaners,

也就是说，这个平台 是由全体员工，即家政保洁

are sharing the governance and the ownership of this platform.

共同管理、共同所有的

They are deciding on wages, they are deciding on benefits,

他们自己决定自己的薪酬和福利

they are deciding what customers are charged.

同时也自己决定向客户收取费用的多少

And it's a truly democratic workplace,

这是一个非常民主的工作场所

and I think that's really what we need more of right now.

当下，我认为我们 越来越需要这样的平台

If you think of tech platforms denying workers living wages,

想一想那些拒绝向员工支付 最低生活薪酬的科技平台

if you think about them denying them the right to organize,

他们剥夺员工组织的权力

and expanding economic inequality in the process,

在这一过程中 不断扩大经济上的不平等

I think platform co-ops are one way to change that.

我认为协作式平台 是改变这种状况的一种方式

I know, I know, that for some of you, when you hear the word "co-op,"

我知道 你们当中的一些人一听到“合作”

you immediately think of a white guy like me

就会立刻想到 一个像我这样的白人

standing in a food cooperative in Berkeley,

站在伯克利的一家食品合作社，

selling you vegan cheese, right?

向你推销素食奶酪 对不对？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I love food cooperatives,

当然，我喜欢食品合作社

but they are not the only type of cooperative.

但他们仅仅是合作社中的一种类型

Co-ops are really just a group of people who have a shared need,

合作社其实就是一群人 他们有着共同的需求

be that vegan cheese or housecleaning,

比如素食奶酪或者房屋清洁

and they come together to address that need.

他们聚到一起来解决这一需求

And that might be a business,

它可以是公司的形式

and sometimes, it takes on other forms,

或以别的形式出现

but it's always about shared ownership and democratic governance.

但它的核心始终是 所有权的共享和民主化的治理

So co-ops are nothing new. You've heard about them.

所以合作社不是新鲜事物 你早就见过了

The consumer co-ops as we know them today

我们今天所熟知的消费者合作社

exist since 1844, when textile weavers in the north of England

起源于 1884年 当时英国北部的纺织工人

came together because their pay was cut in half

因收入减半、家庭陷入饥荒 聚集起来

and their families were starving,

so they decided to sell oatmeal and sugar and flour through a store,

决定以店铺的形式 对外售卖燕麦、糖和面粉

a cooperative.

这就是合作社

Today, cooperatives of agriculture, not just food co-ops, are quite big,

今天，不仅仅有食品合作社 农业合作社也很成功

so you may have heard of Land O'Lakes or Ocean Spray.

你可能已经听说过

蓝多湖（Land O’Lakes） 或优鲜沛（Ocean Spray）

And so, platform cooperatives take the best from these tried-and-true models,

合作式平台 从两种行之有效的模式中汲取精华

the 200-year-old model of the cooperative

一种是有着 200 年历史的合作社

and the much younger model of the digital platform,

另一种是朝气蓬勃的数字平台

and bring them together.

并将它们融合到一起

So here's what makes them different.

合作式平台有着自己的独到之处

They are made up of a group of people who get an equal vote in decision-making,

它们由一群 在决策中拥有平等投票权的人组成

and they are genuinely sharing that process,

所有人都切实地参与到这一过程中

so when it comes to how much customers should be charged,

无论是决定对顾客的收费

how much workers should be paid,

员工的薪水

and also, whether or not data should be collected

或是数据的收集和出售对象

and to whom they are sold.

都是如此

And there is another thing that makes them different,

合作式平台另一个独到之处在于

which is that they are scaling equality.

它们在扩大平等

And so, take Esmeralda Flores.

又说回 Esmeralda Flores

That's where she works in the cleaning industry,

她在保洁行业工作

which has an annual turnover of 75 percent.

这一行业的人员流动率高达 75%

So Esmeralda has been with Up and Go almost since its beginning,

而 Esmeralda 一直都服务于 Up and Go 这家公司

so for three years.

已经有三年时间

And one of the reasons that she stuck with the company

她没有换公司的原因之一就是

is that she was paid more.

她在这挣得更多

So that is significant in the context of,

这一点意义非常重大 尤其是考虑到大环境下

typical tech platforms would take between 25 and 50 percent commission,

常见的科技平台 都会抽取 25% 至 50% 的佣金

which is an exorbitant amount for immigrants,

这对于移民家庭来说 高得离谱

who make up the majority of the gig economy workforce.

而移民恰好又是 零工经济中的主力军

So the women at Up and Go decided to take five percent commission,

所以 Up and Go 的女性们决定 仅抽取 5% 的佣金

which they use to run the platform and pay for credit card bills.

用于平台运营和信用卡账单支付

And 95 percent go to the women, go to the workers themselves.

剩下的 95% 都支付给了公司的员工

And one reason that the company can do that,

能够实现这一点的原因

that Esmeralda can be paid so much,

Esmeralda 能够拿到 如此高时薪的原因在于

is that there's no fiduciary duty to the shareholders to maximize profit.

公司不负担对股东的信托义务 去实现利润最大化

And here's another thing that makes platform cooperatives different:

还有一个因素让合作式平台与众不同

it is that everybody at this company owns it together,

就是，公司是全体员工共同所有的

so it's a shared ownership,

所有权的共享

which means that also the intellectual property of the software

也意味着软件的知识产权

is owned together.

也是共有的

That means that they can create a small network of companies,

因此她们才能创造一个 由公司组成的小网络

like a social franchise,

类似一个社会化连锁服务

and scale up this company,

然后扩大它的规模

to then compete against large tech companies.

去和大的科技公司竞争

And lastly, consider that Up and Go

最后，鉴于 Up and Go 主要是由来自拉丁美洲的移民组成

is made up mostly of immigrants from Latin America,

and if they were a typical gig-economy platform

如果真是那种典型的零工经济平台

and they were out to look for venture-capital funding,

去寻找风险投资资金的话

then the research shows us very clearly

研究非常清晰地显示

that the chances of these minority-women-led founder teams

这些由少数族裔妇女领导的创业团队

to find venture-capital funding are very slim, in the single percentile,

获得风险投资资金的几率不到百分之十 希望十分渺茫

meaning that these women would have never been even able

也就是说，这些女性打一开始

to build a platform in the first place,

可能根本无法建立这样一个平台

or add some much needed diversity to the tech founders' club.

也不可能为科技创业者俱乐部中 带去稀缺的多样性

So, today, there are hundreds of platform co-ops like Up and Go,

今天，有数以千计 像 Up and Go 一样的合作式平台

all over the world,

遍布世界各地

and they work.

并且获得了成功

And they work in more ways than one.

它们成功的因素不一而足

They work because they are more resilient in times of crisis,

归功于其在危机时期 韧性更强

they are more productive,

效率更高

they retain workers longer,

留得住人

and often, they pay better.

薪资往往也更高

So I really believe that platform co-ops are a better, fairer alternative,

所以我深信，合作式平台 是比一般科技平台更好、更公平的选择

and that's why a few years ago, together with a few friends,

为此，几年前我和几个朋友一起

I started the Platform Cooperativism Consortium --

创立了平台合作主义联盟 （Platform Cooperativism Consortium）

try to say that three times, fast --

大家可以试试快速地把这名字念三遍

at The New School in New York City.

创建的地点就在纽约的新学院 （The New School）

And essentially, what we do is we support platform cooperatives,

我们的宗旨就是 为世界各地的合作式平台

digital cooperative projects, all over the world.

以及数字合作项目 提供支持

We are working with 500 projects and businesses in over 30 countries.

目前，我们在超过 30 个国家 与 500 个项目和公司开展合作

But let me just give you a bit of a taste of this.

让我带你们简单地了解一下

I have two examples that are really close to my heart.

以两个我非常喜欢的公司为例

One is Co-op Ride,

一个是 Co-op Ride

which is a driver-owned taxi platform with some 3,500 drivers

这是一个由 3500 多名司机 共有的出租车平台

that make between 10 and 30 percent more

和那些大的打车平台相比

than the drivers on these large ride-hailing platforms.

他们的工资要高出 10% 至 30% 左右

The passengers pay five percent less.

而乘客车费的支出也降低了 5%

And already, despite this being a very new company,

尽管这家公司还很年轻

it's already one of the largest worker cooperatives in the United States.

它已经成为美国最大的工人合作社之一

Second, Fairbnb,

另一个是 Fairbnb

which is a community-focused alternative to short-term rental platforms

这是一个聚焦社区的短租平台

and will soon be available in 120 cities and villages

很快将覆盖 120 个城市和村庄

with over 4,500 hosts.

拥有 4500 名房东

Half of Fairbnb's commission goes to community projects.

Fairbnb 抽取的佣金 一半用于支援社区项目

One of those is a food-distribution center in Genoa, Italy.

其中一个项目 是在意大利热那亚的食品配送中心

Now, I know, I know, you might be wondering,

我知道 你们听到 Up and Go，Fairbnb

when you hear about Up and Go, Fairbnb and Co-op Ride,

还有 Co-op Ride 这样的公司

you might be wondering,

你可能会想：

"How is this not a total mess?"

“这些公司居然没有搞得一团糟？”

So the entrepreneurs among you must be thinking,

在座的创业者一定在想：

“天呐，民主的工作环境？”

"God, democratic workplace?"

And the answer is, "Well, they do what everybody else is doing,"

但实际上 他们的做法和其他公司一样

which is they are hiring management.

他们会雇用管理团队

And they are hiring tech workers.

他们也会雇用技术人员

But there's one big difference, right?

但他们也有一个重大的不同之处

And that is that the rules of operation are decided by all.

也就是 公司运营的规则是由全体雇员决定的

So the management executes the rules

而管理团队所负责的

that were actually decided by all the people in this company.

只是执行这些 由全体公司员工决定的规则

I've told you about platform co-ops mostly in the labor sector,

到目前为止 我所说的合作式平台主要都是在劳务

and also transportation, mobility and short-term rental,

交通以及短租行业

but they can also transform entire sectors,

但它们同样也彻底转变其他领域

such as the care sector,

比如护理

culture and the arts, higher education

文化和艺术、高等教育

and the data economy.

以及数据经济领域

I mean, just imagine, if our data would be managed cooperatively,

想象一下，如果我们的数据 可以以这种合作式的方式管理

cooperative data trusts,

合作式的数据信托

data cooperatives.

合作式的数据公司

Or imagine a social-media cooperative,

抑或是想象一下 合作式的社交媒体

where the users own the platform

社交平台归用户所有

and decide what is done with the data,

由用户决定怎么处理数据

which data are collected and to whom they are sold,

决定信息的收集和买卖

So one where there is no fiduciary duty to shareholders,

这样的平台 对股东没有信托责任

to maximize profits,

不去追求利益最大化

so that you can actually build in privacy and transparency

如此 我们才能切实实现隐私和透明

and really bring the benefits back to those who actually generated the data.

让数据的产生者切实受益

So I know we are here, near Silicon Valley,

今天我们所在的地方 离硅谷不远

so I can see that, I'm sure, for many of you,

我相信 你们当中的一部分人

you will think, "Wow, I'm not so sure about this.

可能会想： “我心里还是有些怀疑”

I mean, this would just never scale, right?"

“这种模式永远也不可能规模化吧？”

I've heard this many times.

这样的质疑我听的太多了

And it doesn't, right?

这种模式确实没法规模化 不是么？

It doesn't scale like traditional Silicon Valley companies.

它无法像传统的 硅谷科技公司一样规模化

Well, it kind of does.

但怎么说呢 其实也是可以的

Up and Go's sales increased by 97 percent,

Up and Go 的销售额 在 2018 至 2019 年间

from 2018 to 2019,

增长了 97%

but that's really not the objective.

但这并不是它成立的目的

The platform cooperatives are not about going public,

合作式平台的目标不是上市

they are not about maximizing profits.

不是利益最大化

They scale differently,

它们规模化的方式是不同的

they scale more affordably than brick-and-mortar cooperatives.

它们规模化的方式 比实体公司的扩张来得更经济

They scale by creating networks of companies

它们通过联合其他公司来实现规模化

that then compete against large companies.

然后再去和大公司竞争

They scale more quickly,

它们规模化的速度更快

because their co-op can be anywhere in the world,

因为这种合作式的模式 可以在世界上的任何地方落地

and they scale democracy,

它们的规模化也更民主

because they can be decentralized through crypto networks and blockchain.

因为它们可以通过加密货币和区块链 来实现去中心化

And that is why I want instructors to teach about this model

正因如此，我才想要老师们 在法学院和商学院中

in law schools and business schools.

讲授关于这一模式的知识

That's why I want entrepreneurs to start one

正因如此，我才想要创业者们

instead of another traditional tech platform.

去采用这一模式 而不是去成立传统的科技平台

And that’s why I want incubators to include this model

正因如此，我才想要创业孵化器 去支持这一模式

and also unions to start platform cooperatives.

想要工会开始成立合作式平台

And that’s why I want ethical social impact investors

正因如此，我才想要那些有道德感 且能够带来社会影响的投资者

to consider them and create an amazing legacy of equality.

考虑这一模式 并借此让社会更加公平，造福后人

Now, I'm not here to tell you

我并不是想说

that this one model will eradicate economic inequality forever.

这一模式将会彻底消除经济上的不平等

It's not, right?

并不会

But what we need is more variety in the economy.

但我们需要的是更加多样化的经济

We need small, unionized private businesses,

我们需要有工会组织的、小的私有公司

we need employee ownership,

我们要让员工享有所有权

and we need platform cooperatives.

我们需要合作式平台

We face big challenges.

我们面临着巨大的挑战

But here's what gives me a lot of hope.

但是，我依然充满希望

When markets fail

当市场失效

and the safety nets of governments break down,

当政府的社会保障体系崩塌

people turn to each other, right?

人们会寻求彼此的帮助 不是吗？

People start to cooperate by forming food cooperatives

人们通过创建食品合作社 开始合作

so that they can feed themselves during a crisis.

以在危难时期 免受饥饿之苦

They start to form platform cooperatives

他们开始建立合作式平台

so that they can clean homes and still make a living wage.

确保他们即使是去做保洁 也同样能够以此为生

And when markets and governments

当市场和政府

for too long failed to address structural racism and inequality,

长久以来都无法解决 结构性的种族歧视和不平等时

people form institutions,

人们自己创建组织

like the Black Panthers' Free Breakfast Program for Children

比如黑豹的儿童免费早餐计划

and the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States.

以及美国最大的工会 劳工总会与产业劳工组织（AFL-CIO）

So we saw democracy,

我们曾经目睹民主

or the aspiration to participatory democracy,

或者说对参与式民主的渴求

spread across countries around the world,

在世界各国传播

and now, it's time for it to spread in the workplace.

现在，是时候让它渗透到 我们的工作场所中

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）