The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position, policies, or views of the organizations co-leading the Coalition. 

The 114th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) has delivered a historic milestone for workers worldwide. After two years of negotiations, governments, employers and workers adopted ILO Convention No. 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy. This is the first international labour standard dedicated to protecting workers whose livelihoods are mediated through digital platforms.

For the Decent Work for Equitable Food Systems Coalition, this is much more than a milestone for the “gig economy.” It is a critical step towards protecting a rapidly growing segment of food systems workers whose labour is increasingly managed by apps, algorithms and digital platforms.

From food delivery riders and agricultural logistics workers to online marketplaces connecting farmers with buyers, digital platforms are transforming our food systems. While these technologies can create new opportunities for income generation and market access, they also have enabled business models to shift costs and risks onto workers. Many platform workers earn below minimum wage once expenses are deducted, lack social protection when they are sick or injured, and face unclear algorithmic management, surveillance, or even sudden deactivation from the apps on which their livelihoods depend. Organising collectively to improve conditions has been challenging due to the fragmentation and diversity of the platform economy workforce.

Convention No. 193 establishes that innovation cannot come at the expense of workers’ rights. It requires governments to ensure that platform workers enjoy fundamental principles and rights at work, occupational safety and health protections, safeguards against violence and harassment, protections for personal data and privacy, greater transparency around automated decision-making, and measures to ensure workers are correctly classified rather than mislabelled to avoid labour protections.

The negotiations themselves reflected some of the defining questions shaping the future of work. Delegates debated whether digital platforms genuinely create new economic opportunities or simply repackage existing jobs into more precarious forms. They grappled with questions of employment classification and how governments can regulate employers operating across borders in an increasingly digital economy. While these debates are still far from settled, the Convention does establish a common global floor of rights that technological innovation cannot undercut.

Having observed this process since the first negotiations in 2025, when the Decent Work for Equitable Food Systems Coalition members the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) participated in the discussions, it has been remarkable to witness years of advocacy culminate in the adoption of the first international labour standard for the platform economy. The voices of workers, particularly those from the informal economy, helped ensure that the realities of algorithmic management, misclassification and unequal bargaining power remained central throughout the negotiations.

The Convention’s adoption is not the end of the journey and its impact will ultimately depend on governments ratifying the Convention and translating its commitments into national laws and enforcement. But this moment sends a powerful message that platform work is work, and all workers, whether harvesting crops, delivering food, providing care or completing digital tasks, deserve rights, protection and decent work. As digital platforms continue to reshape food systems, our coalition can play a crucial role in ensuring that innovation delivers equitable livelihoods rather than deeper precarity.