Graphic: John McCann/M&G
Labour 20, the G20’s employment track, has called for the reclassification of workers in the digital economy, where many are labelled as “independent contractors”, which it said enables exploitation and strips workers of core rights.
“Platform workers are being misclassified, denied basic protections and subjected to inhumane working conditions by companies that exploit regulatory gaps. We believe that this is not innovation but is exploitation wrapped in code,” it said in a communiqué.
“We call for international standards to ensure cross-border accountability, worker data sovereignty and fair taxation of platform giants. Technology must serve labour, not subjugate it.”
G20 working groups have made similar recommendations ahead of the November summit of heads of state, with the finance track calling for International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation reform, while think tank T20 called for restructured financing models and Youth 20 emphasised the importance of multilateral cooperation and national sovereignty.
South Africa, which holds the current G20 presidency, was represented by trade union federations Cosatu, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa), the South African Federation of Trade Unions and the National Council of Trade Unions during recent Labour20 discussions.
Workers in the digital economy are effectively outside the law, Cosatu head of policy Tanya van Meelis told the Mail and Guardian.
“People working in the digital economy who are classified as independent contractors are not recognised as workers. As such, they are not covered by labour legislation and this leaves them vulnerable to severe exploitation,” she said.
These workers can’t join trade unions, have no protection from unfair dismissals and are excluded from unemployment insurance and collective bargaining.
“They are not afforded a process to try and protect them from retrenchment and minimise the negative impact,” Meelis said.
Fedusa general secretary Riefdah Ajam described the “independent contractor” label as “a deliberate tactic used by capital and employers to strip them of basic rights”.
Contractors, she said, “are required to work full days and answer to supervisors — whether human or algorithmic”, yet are denied basics like UIF, paid leave and the right to unionise.
“The platforms that use this model get away with avoiding responsibility and, ultimately, being non-compliant with the labour laws and other rights as provisioned for in the Constitution and other statutes,” Ajam added, warning that if unions don’t push back, a rights-based labour system could soon be a thing of the past.
Labour 20 called on governments to implement mandatory due diligence and public oversight of all digital labour platforms operating within their borders. The summit rejected “digital colonialism”, declaring that the infrastructure of the digital economy “must be public, universal and democratic”.
“We further demand algorithmic transparency, where workers have access to the data that governs their performance and livelihoods. No worker should be at the mercy of a faceless system they cannot question,” it said in its communiqué.
Fedusa wants tough regulations that force platforms to disclose how they treat workers, what algorithms they use and where their profits go. The union also backs penalties for non-compliance and calls for stronger local ownership of the digital economy.
“We can’t outsource our future to companies who see us as a market but never as equal partners. This is about sovereignty, dignity and economic justice,” Ajam said.
With more than 60% of workers globally “trapped in informal and precarious employment”, Labour 20 called for “a comprehensive agenda for formalisation”. Recommendations included labour law reform, strengthened inspections, ratification of International Labour Organisation conventions and inclusive social protection.
“Trade unions must be at the centre of this shift. We affirm that informal workers are workers. Their rights are not negotiable,” said the communiqué. Governments and employers, it said, must end delays and move decisively toward institutionalising decent work.
Meelis said Cosatu had secured a win through negotiations at the National Economic Development and Labour Council with the government agreeing to allow atypical workers — including actors and digital platform workers — to join unions and engage in collective bargaining.
However, Meelis said the deployment of AI risks deepening inequality. “In the short term, more women risk losing their jobs than men — particularly because the initial impact of AI will be the replacement of administrative jobs, which are predominantly held by women workers.”
“If we are to address inequality and not exacerbate it, digital transformation must not outpace social integration,” Meelis added.
“If someone works regularly for a platform, follows set conditions and depends on that income, they should be presumed an employee until proven otherwise. That’s how fairness can be restored.”
South Africa’s labour laws haven’t caught up with the gig economy, Ajam said. “We need them amended so that platform workers are clearly included.”
She also criticised new terms like “dependent contractors” as potential loopholes for further abuse. “Any new category must carry full protections.”
Ajam wants the International Labour Organisation to adopt a binding convention on platform work. “It should cover fair pay, set working hours, access to benefits, transparency around algorithms and the right to organise.”
The communiqué also noted that “workers are facing spiralling inequality, stubborn unemployment, rising authoritarianism, deepening climate devastation and collapsing public services”.
“In the Global South, these crises are compounded by debt, weak state capacity and the brutal legacies of colonial exploitation. Our call is simple and unwavering: the working class will not pay for the failure of a system rigged against them.”
Labour 20 said workers’ futures should not be “sacrificed at the altar of profit and geopolitical power”, urging a “reclaiming and rebuilding” of multilateralism and a reversal of the declining labour share of income.
“Workers are not commodities nor statistics. We are the architects of society, and any global recovery that excludes them is a blueprint for deeper inequality,” the communiqué said.