FareShare: A Tool for Labor Organizers to Estimate Lost Wages and Contest Arbitrary AI and Algorithmic Deactivations

TL;DR

FareShare is a computational tool that automates lost wage estimation for deactivated gig workers, improving efficiency and accuracy while highlighting socio-technical challenges in high-stakes labor contexts.

Contribution

This paper introduces FareShare, a novel tool that automates lost wage calculations for deactivated drivers, supporting labor organizers and legal processes.

Findings

Reduced lost wage calculation time by over 95%

Eliminated manual data entry errors

Enabled more efficient arbitration report generation

Abstract

What happens when a rideshare driver is suddenly locked out of the platform connecting them to riders, wages, and daily work? Deactivation-the abrupt removal of gig workers' platform access-typically occurs through arbitrary AI and algorithmic decisions with little explanation or recourse. This represents one of the most severe forms of algorithmic control and often devastates workers' financial stability. Recent U.S. state policies now mandate appeals processes and recovering compensation during the period of wrongful deactivation based on past earnings. Yet, labor organizers still lack effective tools to support these complex, error-prone workflows. We designed FareShare, a computational tool automating lost wage estimation for deactivated drivers, through a 6 month partnership with the State of Washington's largest rideshare labor union. Over the following 3 months, our field deployment of FareShare registered 178 account signups. We observed that the tool could reduce lost wage calculation time by over 95%, eliminate manual data entry errors, and enable legal teams to generate arbitration-ready reports more efficiently. Beyond these gains, the deployment also surfaced important socio-technical challenges around trust, consent, and tool adoption in high-stakes labor contexts.