Briefings from Workers

Elite organizations will not solve the problems of the global majority. Communities don’t need to be told what they need or want; they already know. Workers who team up with social movements will effect social change by abolishing exploitative systems and establishing a new world that is just and equitable for all. In these Worker Briefings, we will learn about significant national initiatives to establish a more equitable and democratic digital economy in sectors such as delivery, freelancing, and recycling. Brazil is becoming a fertile environment for platform cooperatives. Welcome to the Workers’ Briefings.

Guided by Pamela Ferreira.

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Señoritas Courier

Aline Os is the founder of Señoritas Courier, a delivery collective formed by women and LGBTQIAP+ people in São Paulo. What makes Señoritas unique is its horizontal structure and collective decision making. In other words, its members define how the business is managed. This is in contrast to most delivery services, which tend to be highly centralized and use high-tech platforms that allow little worker participation. For Señoritas, it is important to see the people who make up the collective as holistic beings with needs and desires beyond simply making deliveries. 

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Jacira Sousa believes that their organization can also help to address other social issues such as access to the city, technology, and health. The relationship between the collective body and technology is paramount, and technology is regarded as essential for the development of the work, with internal actions for the digital inclusion of the collective’s people. Señoritas Courier is all about hacking solutions and subverting the logic of profit as a goal, while prioritizing good working relationships and working conditions.

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AppJusto

AppJusto is a new delivery app that is taking a fairer approach to the gig economy. Unlike other delivery apps, Justo allows workers to set their own prices for deliveries, and there is no ranking system between workers. As Pedro Andrade explains, the app is open source and collectively funded, meaning that it can serve as an inspiration for other cooperatives. AppJusto rethinks a food delivery platform as a “collective good” in which the company charges no transaction fees to the couriers. 

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Hire Those Who Struggle
Edson Sousa will introduce “Hire Those Who Struggle,” a virtual assistant created by “Movimento dos Trabalhadores sem Terra,” the Brazilian Homeless Movement. The assistant connects homeless people looking for work with people who are seeking services such as cleaning or painting. The technology, which is free for the workers, is run through Whatsapp and has been used more than 3,000 times. The personal information of workers is not shared with clients. 

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Cataki

Cataki is a free platform that connects waste collectors with individuals and organizations who need their residential or commercial waste recycled. In Brazil, over 300,000 people have already downloaded the app. Over 4,500 waste collectors in more than 1,700 cities use the software. The Cataki app additionally supports over 300 recycling cooperatives. Presented at the conference by the founder, Mundano, the app is designed to assist the community of waste pickers in increasing their earnings, identifying new partners, and locating the best locations to sell their recyclable materials. Cataki’s platform is also used by the non-profit organization “Pimp my Carroça,” which is responsible for the creation of Cataki.

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File Swap
Would you like to dig deeper, learn more about the discussed topics, or have documents to share? Download PDFs of the presentations, background readings, and/or upload your own materials to this folder.

***Archival video of this segment is available here.***

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