The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have called for a binding international convention that would guarantee living wages, social protection, and enforceable collective bargaining rights for workers worldwide, amid rising concerns over the expansion of the platform economy.
Speaking at a joint news conference on the sidelines of the 114th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, NLC President Joe Ajaero said the International Labour Organisation (International Labour Organization) must move beyond non-binding declarations and establish enforceable global standards to protect workers in the digital age.
Ajaero warned that workers in the platform economy remain exposed to algorithm-driven control systems that increasingly determine access to work without adequate legal safeguards.
“If the work of the ILO is to mean anything for Nigerian workers and the global working class, it must hasten work on a binding standard for the platform economy,” he said.
He added, “We do not need aspirational declarations that leave platform workers exposed to algorithmic surveillance, arbitrary deactivation and the denial of basic labour rights. We need a convention that guarantees living wages, collective bargaining, social protection and the right to be remembered as human beings, not data points.”
Ajaero said the rapid expansion of digital labour platforms had intensified vulnerabilities among workers, particularly through what he described as arbitrary deactivation systems and algorithmic monitoring that weaken traditional labour protections.
He stressed that social dialogue must remain central to workplace transformation, warning that technological advancement should not worsen inequality or erode labour standards.
According to him, digital platforms often deepen existing gender and structural inequalities, disproportionately affecting vulnerable categories of workers, and requiring what he described as a “transformative gender approach” in global labour policy.
The labour leader also argued that existing international labour standards remain ineffective without strong enforcement mechanisms capable of compelling compliance by member states.
He cited Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, alleging it had been violated in Nigeria without meaningful consequences.
“We have seen in Nigeria how partners flout Convention No. 98 and others with impunity, occupying union secretariats and crushing collective bargaining while hiding behind sovereignty,” he said.
Ajaero added that organised labour would continue to push for stronger global protections that guarantee fairness, dignity, and decent work for all categories of workers, including those in emerging digital sectors.
