@pluralistic When kids read about the Pullman porters, they will pause on certain details about the working conditions, such as having hours of sleep deducted from the porters’ pay, or the precarity of tips, it’s the little indignities, like being required to purchase Pullman-branded shoe shine, that sticks in their craw. You’ve mentioned the porters in other contexts, but the similarity of their conditions is all I can think about when you describe gig workers having to kit out their vehicles in self-financed corporate logos. Thanks for bringing that connection home. Thank you also for including the finding about how Seattle’s PayUp has “moved the needle” because these days, the one thing people ask me for, again and again, is a win they can read about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_porter

The pretext that a worker is actually a standalone small business confers another great advantage on their employers: it's a great boon to any boss who wants to steal their worker's wages. I'm not talking about stealing tips here (though gig-work platforms do steal tips, like crazy):

https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/01/mayor-mamdani-announces--5-million-settlement--reinstatement-of-

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