The Many Sins of the Tech Giants
By
Phil Mattera for the Dirt
Diggers Digest
The report finds that in various portions of the digital world these companies have amassed what amounts to monopoly control and have not hesitated to use it crush or absorb competitors.
Comparing the tech giants to the oil barons and railroad
tycoons of the late 19th century, the report calls for
aggressive measures such as breaking up the companies and doing more rigorous
reviews of proposed mergers and acquisitions in the future.
Among
the broader consequences of the rising power of the tech giants are, the report
argues: a weakening of innovation and entrepreneurship, a decline in the number
of trustworthy sources of news, and an erosion of safeguards for the privacy of
personal information.
One
aspect of the report that has not received much coverage is the brief
discussion of the power of the tech giants in the labor market.
This
is especially relevant for Amazon, which as the report notes has become one of
the largest employers in the country and is exercising monopoly power in
sectors such as warehousing and “has wage-setting power through its ability to
set route fees and other fixed costs for independent contractors in localities
in which it dominates the delivery labor market. These entities are dependent
on Amazon for a large majority—or even 100%—of their delivery business.”
EDITOR’S
NOTE: This important report was conducted under the leadership of Rep. David
Cicilline who represents Rhode Island’s District 1. He chairs the Anti-Trust
Subcommittee of House Judiciary. – W.
Collette
Amazon has moved into the position previously held by Walmart—a shamelessly exploitative employer that depresses wages and worsens working conditions not only for its own workers but also for the entire sector in which it operates—and to some extent for the economy as a whole.
The
report’s wide-ranging recommendations do not include any remedies for these
labor issues, perhaps because they are outside the scope of the Judiciary
Committee.
It
is worth noting that there are already efforts underway to address the labor
practices of the tech giants. Several unions as well as other groups are
working with Amazon employees to agitate for better conditions, a process made
more difficult by Amazon’s brazen anti-union practices and its widespread use
of staffing services to evade its employer responsibilities.
There are also class-action lawsuits challenging unfair employment practices by Amazon and other tech giants. For example, Facebook recently agreed to pay $1.65 million to resolve litigation alleging that it misclassified workers to deprive them of overtime pay.
A few years ago, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe Systems
together agreed to pay $415 million to resolve
allegations that they conspired not to hire each other’s employees, thus
suppressing salary levels.
Taking
on the tech giants will require many lines of attack to address the harms they
cause to users and employees alike.