By Adesakin Adefemi
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have called for a new binding international convention to guarantee living wages, social protection, and enforceable collective bargaining rights for workers worldwide, warning that the rapid growth of the platform economy is leaving millions exposed.
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 Organization must move beyond non-binding declarations and establish enforceable global standards for the digital age.
Ajaero cautioned that workers in the platform economy are increasingly subjected to algorithm-driven control systems that determine access to work without adequate legal safeguards, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.
“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, stressing the need for urgent action.
“We do not need aspirational declarations that leave platform workers exposed to algorithmic surveillance, arbitrary deactivation and the denial of basic labour rights,” Ajaero added. “We need a convention that guarantees living wages, collective bargaining, social protection and the right to be remembered as human beings, not data points.”
The labour leader argued that the expansion of digital labour platforms has intensified worker vulnerabilities, particularly through arbitrary deactivation systems and algorithmic monitoring that undermine traditional labour protections.
He stressed that social dialogue must remain central to workplace transformation, warning that technological advancement should not deepen inequality or erode labour standards. Digital platforms, he said, often worsen gender and structural inequalities, requiring a “transformative gender approach” in global labour policy.
Ajaero also faulted weak enforcement of existing international labour standards, citing Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, which he alleged has been violated in Nigeria without 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.
The NLC and TUC said organised labour will 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.
