Cool, did the city put up an ad asking people to apply for that unpaid job? If not, it’s not the same.
Sort of? There’s signage asking people to clean up the parks, and there are official volunteer projects (unpaid) to do park cleanups. I’m acting on my own on my own time.
For something more directly relevant, my city has an official “fiber ambassador” program for the upcoming muni fiber rollout, and they are actively seeking unpaid “fiber champions” to post signs and tell friends about it. I didn’t do that (don’t want an obligation), but I do hype it up with neighbors and whatnot because I’m excited about it. The fiber program won’t be free, but it should be very competitive with existing infra (we have a local fiber-backed ethernet ISP, cable, dsl, and fixed wireless). If the city approached me and tried to pay me for that, I’d turn them down and probably champion it less because I don’t want the city to bother me.
And the situation in the article isn’t even like that “fiber champion” program, it’s just an invitation to meet the team. There’s no on-going obligation, just an invitation for a special event for people with an outsized influence on the community. It’s more of a “thank you” than an agreement to keep doing it.
Cool, where can I put up a sign so you come clean my home for free? How about some renovations where you even buy the utilities yourself?
What you’re describing is unpaid labor.
What I’m describing is volunteer labor. As long as there’s no obligations, I’m free to do it or not, at my leisure.
If you want to put up a sign, go for it. Maybe I live near you (doubt it), or maybe there’s another busybody that likes to organize stuff. You might get robbed, or you might get some free labor, you never know! But an invitation is a prerequisite. I have helped people clean up stuff because they asked nicely, and I would do so again if more people asked. It turns out, I like helping people, and I don’t really care if they’re making a profit or not (I’ve cleaned up for-profit businesses as well, because I like the service they offer).
It’s the same general idea as those “free small libraries” people put out. They put in some amount of effort to keep it orderly, and invite community members to do the same. Sometimes it works out and people exchange books and keep the “library” orderly, and other times people take advantage and steal the books to resell online or something. Which one happens depends on your local community.
If you pay someone, you’ll probably get the results you want. If you don’t, well, it depends on who chooses to do the work, if any.
