This policy report focuses on the International Labour Organization’s proposed Convention concerning decent work in the platform economy to be voted on in June 2026 and the extent to which it addresses the labor issues faced by platform data workers.

The report summarizes the issues faced by those workers, which emerge both from their status as platform contractors and from the nature of the work for the AI industry. We evaluate the likely impact the current draft will have for data workers, highlighting important advances, avenues for strategic action and critical gaps. Lastly, we offer recommendations to improve the proposed Convention. 

For labor representatives and delegates involved in the negotiations at the International Labour Convention, this report offers ambitious but concrete policy recommendations. For those less familiar with data work, it provides a concise background and summary of the shared issues across the platform economy and specificities of data work, succinctly bringing together findings from worker-led investigations, academic studies and journalistic accounts. More generally, the analysis of the implications of the Platform Labour Convention for platform data workers, highlights avenues for strategic partnerships and action, and identifies key gaps and limitations that remain to be addressed beyond the negotiations of this year’s International Labour Convention.