Koperasi Pekerja dan Kesesuaiannya sebagai Organisasi Alternatif untuk Pekerja Gig di Malaysia (Worker Cooperatives and Their Suitability as an Alternative Organization for Gig Workers in Malaysia)

Abstract

This article examines worker cooperatives as an alternative form of organisation for gig workers in Malaysia by focusing on literature reviews and current debates. The author argues that the gig economy, which is promoted as a flexible form of employment, is a continuation of the capitalist drive to exploit the working class and accumulate capital. The phenomenon of economic digitalisation will further increase class tensions between labour and capital, especially by algorithms to minimise the business costs and weaken the bargaining power of workers. Therefore, worker cooperatives are discussed as one of the alternatives that have the potential to challenge the oppression of capital. However, analysis and historical research reveal that the cooperative movement that developed under the colonial rule of the British did not have the same aspirations compared to Europe. Under colonial rule, cooperatives were seen as instruments for managing social change among the colonised population, especially the peasants who were trapped in debt. Later, they were continued as part of the Malaysian national development model which was fundamentally still in favour of the interests of the capitalist class. Therefore, it limited the spirit of the implementation of worker cooperatives. This exposure is compared to the ability of cooperatives as a model that can provide the foundation for socialist transformation and is closely related to the structural crisis that is developing along with the economic digitalisation. In addition, factors such as class consciousness, the strength of the labour movement and the local political and economic context are also examined. In conclusion, the strategy of worker cooperatives for gig workers in Malaysia needs to go beyond reformism to pave the way towards the liberation of the working class.