Will the ILO endorse platform work without labour rights?
App-based transport workers react to the “Blue Report”
This report presents the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers' (IAATW) reaction to the ILO Office Commentary on the draft Convention and Recommendation on platform work. It examines how the current standard-setting process at the International Labour Conference has been shaped by platform enterprises while systematically excluding the voices of app-based transport and delivery workers. The analysis highlights critical gaps in the draft Convention — including the absence of clear enterprise definitions, imbalances in tripartite consultation, and provisions that risk legitimising informal working arrangements — and offers concrete amendments to strengthen protections for platform workers worldwide.
IAATW Report: Evolving Models for App-based Transport and Delivery Evade ILO Standards
The ILO is building global standards for platform work — but the 15 countries hosting 80% of that work were barely consulted. This report fills the gap. Drawing on firsthand testimony from app-based transport workers across three continents, it documents the convention gaps, corporate evasion strategies, and definitional loopholes that leave 154 million workers locked out of fundamental rights. It names the enterprises, maps the money, and delivers recommendations the ILO process has so far failed to produce.
IAATW Global Report on App-Mediated Industrial Relations
The ILO is building global standards for platform work — but the 15 countries hosting 80% of that work were barely consulted. This report fills the gap. Drawing on firsthand testimony from app-based transport workers across three continents, it documents the convention gaps, corporate evasion strategies, and definitional loopholes that leave 154 million workers locked out of fundamental rights. It names the enterprises, maps the money, and delivers recommendations the ILO process has so far failed to produce.
Prepared for the 113th ILC. Authored by Blake Harwell, Voyageur Strategies. Supported by the Ford Foundation.
IAATW Regional Shadow Reports
IAATW member organizations document what platforms deny and governments ignore. These regional reports track conditions across South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia — from wage theft and algorithmic control to the violence that follows when workers are left without protection. Together, they form the evidentiary foundation of the IAATW global report.
