June 19, 2024
SHARE
COMMONS
WORK #14 – The Colossus of Roads
She expected to face opposition from tech companies and governments that are hostile to workers. But what she didn’t anticipate was that one of the biggest obstacles in her path would be a labour union. 
Arshy Mann
Host & Producer
Jordan Cornish
Producer
Noor Azrieh
Producer
Karyn Pugliese
Editor-in-Chief

Earla Phillips has almost 16,000 Uber rides under her belt. But over the last few years, she’s been trying to hold Uber, one of the most powerful tech companies in the world, to account.

Earla is a leader in a growing movement of gig workers who are trying to reclaim the basic labour rights that have been stripped from them.

She expected to face opposition from tech companies and governments that are hostile to workers. But what she didn’t anticipate was that one of the biggest obstacles in her path would be a labour union. 

 

Featured in this episode: Earla Phillips, Anthony Milton (Ricochet)

 

To learn more:

“Rideshare drivers are fighting to unionize. One of Canada’s biggest unions is standing in their way” by Anthony Milton in Ricochet

“How Uber got almost everything it wanted in Ontario’s Working For Workers Act” by Vanmala Subramaniam in The Globe and Mail

“Union worked with Uber to ensure Ontario government would not classify gig workers as employees, documents show” by Vanmala Subramaniam in The Globe and Mail

 

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

 

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: Douglas, Article

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

More from this series
The huge rise in international students in Canada — most of them from Punjab, India — has become one of the biggest stories in the country.
June 26, 2024
She expected to face opposition from tech companies and governments that are hostile to workers. But what she didn’t anticipate was that one of the biggest obstacles in her path would be a labour union. 
June 19, 2024
Mandalena Lewis is one of far too many flight attendants who have been harassed or assaulted on the job. And her story is just one example of a culture of sexism and abuse that she alleges pervades the airline industry.
June 12, 2024
In 2006, Zakaria Amara was arrested and imprisoned for planning what could have been one of the deadliest terror attacks in Canadian history. A ringleader of the so-called “Toronto 18,” he’s one of the most infamous Canadian convicts of the last few decades. 
June 5, 2024
♩♪ But Spotify, it’s nearly killed us Ticketmaster’s ground us to dust The companies got too large Now monopolies are in charge ♩♪
May 29, 2024
Not only do Canadian prisoners work for for-profit businesses, but they’re sometimes doing the most dangerous and nauseating work around
May 22, 2024
If we want to truly understand our criminal justice system and Canadian labour, we need to examine how prisoners work.
May 15, 2024
In Newfoundland and Labrador, fishing is more than just an industry or a job. It truly is a way of life. It’s at the core of what has made this place what it is.
May 8, 2024
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
COMMONS