Rights groups call for new treaty to protect ‘gig’ workers News
Julia Justo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Rights groups call for new treaty to protect ‘gig’ workers

A group of 33 civil society groups, trade unions, and human rights organizations called on Tuesday for the creation of a new treaty that would enshrine labor protections and legal standards for “gig” workers in international law.

The joint statement, which was signed by organizations including Human Rights Watch and Privacy International, called for member states at the 113th session of the International Labor Conference (ILC), meeting until June 12, to address the business model of platform companies, which they say has contributed to deepening inequality and worker vulnerabilities. The statement highlighted low wages, a lack of social protections, and non-transparent control via company algorithms as areas of concern.

The groups asked the ILC to ensure workers harmed by unfair algorithmic management can address grievance mechanisms and remedies, recognize waiting periods between assignments as working time, and, crucially, provide for proper categorization of workers to avoid improper designation of employees as independent contractors. Misclassifying workers as independent contractors allows platforms to evade employer responsibilities, including social security contributions, overtime pay, and minimum wage laws.

Isabel Ortiz, director of Global Social Justice, a signatory of Tuesday’s declaration, said: “Platform workers face insecurity, low pay, and are excluded from social security while companies make billions… Binding ILO [International Labor Organization] standards are crucial to ensure these precarious workers have decent jobs and are included in social security systems. Some countries have shown it can be done; now it must happen everywhere.”

In 2022, Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers should be classified as employees and therefore should be accorded all rights under Swiss law that employees are provided.

While international law does not currently explicitly address platform workers, Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes a right to “just and favourable conditions of work” and a right to “just and favourable remuneration … supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.” Article 24 provides for “reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.”

A 2021 Pew Research Centre Poll surveyed platform workers in Texas, finding that 31 percent of current or recent workers reported that their “gig” work was their main source of income, with food delivery being the most common form. In a report by Human Rights Watch, workers said that they lived in “near-constant fear” of being “deactivated” or fired by an app. Workers reported that they earned 30 percent below minimum wage, with most saying they struggled to pay for food, groceries, electricity, and water.

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