In this episode, Simon and Martin chat with James Farrer –an expert in the impact of dynamic (or surge) pricing on wages. In a must-hear conversation, reference is made to a number of live or recent-past court cases and recent research papers. Listeners may want to check out some or all of the following:

The TUC report on dynamic pay, based on testimonyfrom a number of Uber drivers, is here. The so-called Article 22 legal case is set in context by this press release and is co-ordinated by the Worker Info Exchange – read more here.

Information on the 2016 Employment Tribunal, and thesubsequent Supreme Court ruling, against Uber is here.

The Harvard Business School paper on “Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, and Regulatory Response” is here, and the Columbia Law Review, “On Algorithmic Wage Discrimination” by Veena Dubal is here.

The Worker Info Exchange paper on “Dying for Data, How the gig economy public data deficit conceals £1.9 billion in wage theft, runaway carbon emissions, and a health & safety catastrophe?” is here.

The RUSI paper on “How Ride-Share Apps Collect and Store Data: A National Security Risk?” is here and Chris Schmidt’s paper “From the CIA to Uber via the Oxford MBA” is here.

AI is advancing exponentially, and the principles ofdynamic/surge pricing will surely leach into wage setting. The time to understand organise, and write a different future for the labour movement is now.