"I'm not fighting for myself, I'm fighting because I love YouTube, and I fear that the management's mistakes are endangering it," Sprave said. Powerful German union IG Metall, already closely following the growing "gig" or "platform" economy of people working for online portals, has joined his battle. "We don't just want to stand and watch how the world of work develops, but to shape it ourselves from an early stage," says IG Metall official Robert Fuss. That could cover the categories and advertiser scores handed out secretly by YouTube, Sprave and IG Metall believe. IG Metall sees a potential legal case that YouTubers are so closely tied to the platform that they are de facto employees.

Source: The Local December 19, 2019 11:15 UTC