New international convention: from unpredictability to rights for platform workers

For LO, this is about something fundamental: rights in working life must also apply to new and digital forms of work. With this convention, international platform companies must respect fundamental rights such as the right to organise and the right to collective bargaining, and ensure decent working conditions for platform workers.

“This is a historic breakthrough. We have established a global regulatory framework for a new part of working life that is characterised by insecurity and lack of rights,” says Peter Hansen, adviser at the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions. He has participated in the negotiations on behalf of LO together with worker representatives from across the world.

A new reality requires new rules

Platform work has become a permanent feature of the economy, also in Norway, with thousands of workers belonging to this group. The most visible are perhaps the bicycle couriers delivering food and other goods locally, but there are many other groups performing work through apps and digital platforms. They often lack the basic rights that other workers enjoy.

The new convention establishes that rights shall apply regardless of whether the worker is classified as an employee or as self-employed. This is crucial to prevent companies from circumventing employer responsibilities by misclassifying workers.

“We have fought hard for a convention that closes the gaps in the system. Far too many have been without the right to sick pay, pensions, or basic rights at work. With this convention, it will be easier to address this,” says Hansen.

Tough negotiations through the night

The road to a new convention has been demanding. The negotiations brought together representatives of workers, employers and governments from around the world with very different interests.

“This has been one of the toughest negotiations I have taken part in. We sat until six in the morning during the final stretch to reach an agreement,” Hansen explains.

The result is a compromise, but an important one.

“It is not a perfect text, but it is a significant step forward. Most importantly, we now have a foundation to build on.”

Key rights secured

The convention contains several breakthroughs that will have major implications for platform workers:

·      Global minimum standards in a sector that has until now been weakly regulated

·      Protection against hazardous work and requirements for safety

·      Requirements for minimum pay to ensure economic dignity

·      Regulation of algorithms and automated decision-making

·      The right to organise and to engage in collective bargaining

“We can now set clearer demands on global platform companies to respect fundamental rights. This strengthens the trade union movement,” Hansen says.

He emphasises that the convention does not threaten the Norwegian model for wage formation and social partnership. The convention is based on principles closely aligned with the Nordic model, where work is regulated according to how it is actually performed, not only by contractual form.

“The convention reinforces the way we already organise working life in Norway,” Hansen underlines.

Implementation at home

Although the convention has been adopted internationally, important national work remains to ensure that all countries ratify it and fulfil its requirements.

“This is the starting line, not the finish line. Now we must ensure that the convention is implemented,” says Hansen.

LO Vice President Are Tomasgard, who has headed the Norwegian worker delegation at the International Labour Conference, describes this as solid work. LO will work hard to ensure that Norway ratifies and implements the convention in a way that strengthens the rights of these workers.

“This is the kind of foundation we need,” says Tomasgard.

“With today’s technology and labour markets, the number of workers in this group will only continue to grow,” he adds. Tomasgard stresses that domestically, it is now essential to build on and further strengthen what was achieved in Geneva.