Digital economy: ILO adopts the first global treaty to protect platform workers

This new convention applies to all couriers, drivers, or independent contractors who earn their income from these applications, regardless of their current legal status. Until now, many companies in the sector classified their collaborators as mere “independent contractors” rather than employees. This trick often allowed them to bypass traditional labor law obligations.

From now on, the adopted text requires signatory countries to guarantee these workers fundamental rights. This includes the freedom to form unions, the right to collectively negotiate their working conditions, as well as access to social security, protection against harassment, and strict health and safety regulations.

For human rights advocacy organizations, this treaty addresses a real injustice. Indeed, the independent status had previously deprived millions of individuals of minimum wage or medical coverage, leaving them to bear all the risks and costs of their activities alone.

According to Jeroen Beirnaert, political director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the adoption of this text is a major advancement that proves that international institutions can adapt to the changes of the modern world. For this treaty to officially come into force, it will require at least two member states to ratify it. The signatory countries will then have one year to adapt their national laws.