Janine Berg

Janine Berg is Senior Economist with the Conditions of Work and Equality Department of the International Labour Office. She received her Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research in New York. 

Platform Cooperativism from an Economist’s Perspective
Janine Berg will discuss platform cooperativism from an economist’s perspective. Fundamentally, she is concerned with income security for gig economy workers. She notes that simply establishing alternative social security systems for 1099 workers is not sufficient, as the fundamental problem is the lack of a minimum wage. She will argue that the lack of wage floors will also plague the co-ops unless they can secure a monopoly on the market. Many of these jobs, she notes, need to be recognized as waged employment and then be subject to minimum wage provisions, regardless of whether the job is supplied through a platform coop or a traditional corporation. Her critique presents the possibilities and limits of cooperativism, focusing on ensuring income security for workers.