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   Cory Doctorow (pluralistic@mamot.fr)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Feb-2026 19:07:34 JST Cory Doctorow

   Today's threads (a thread)

   Inside: What's a "gig work minimum wage"; and more!

   Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/17/no-piecework/

   #Pluralistic

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   • Embed this notice
     Jürgen Hubert (juergen_hubert@mementomori.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Feb-2026 19:07:31 JST Jürgen Hubert

     in reply to

     @pluralistic

     Fun fact: This kind of stuff has a long history. For instance, in the Harz Mountains of Germany, miners were only paid for the time they were working within the tunnels, but not for the time they needed to get down to their designated tunnel.

     This was a problem, since for the deepest mine - such as the Samson Pit in Sankt Andreasberg, which had a depth of 800 meters - it could take one hour to get down and two hours to get back to the surface.

     Eventually, a technical solution was developed - the "Fahrkunst" or "Man Engine", which cut down the time to 20 minutes in each direction. You owe it to yourself to read up on it - it's one of the more unhinged modes of transportation out there.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine

   • Embed this notice
     Cory Doctorow (pluralistic@mamot.fr)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Feb-2026 19:07:32 JST Cory Doctorow

     in reply to

     What's a "gig work minimum wage": The important rate is what you're paid when you're waiting for a job.

     https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/116085742947462240

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