Cooperatives Urge ILO to Tackle Platform Worker Exploitation and Gender Inequality
In a joint communication issued ahead of the conference, the International Cooperative Alliance [ICA] and International Organisation of Industrial and Service Cooperatives [CICOPA] said the two issues represent some of the most pressing challenges facing the modern world of work and highlighted the cooperative model as a practical solution to both
BRUSSELS, June 4, 2026 — The global cooperative movement has called on the International Labour Organization [ILO] to take decisive action to address worker exploitation in the platform economy and persistent gender inequality, as delegates gather in Geneva for the 114th International Labour Conference [ILC] from June 1-12.
In a joint communication issued ahead of the conference, the International Cooperative Alliance [ICA] and International Organisation of Industrial and Service Cooperatives [CICOPA] said the two issues represent some of the most pressing challenges facing the modern world of work and highlighted the cooperative model as a practical solution to both.
The organisations also welcomed discussions on the report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations [CEACR], including its General Survey on the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 [No. 205].
The survey recognises the role of cooperatives in promoting sustainable development, creating employment and supporting public procurement guarantees. It also stresses the need for an enabling environment, including improved access to finance, to strengthen cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy enterprises in building resilient and inclusive labour markets.
The cooperative movement said the rapid expansion of the platform economy had transformed the delivery of goods and services worldwide but had often come at the expense of workers’ rights.
According to the organisations, millions of platform workers continue to face insecure contracts, limited social protection, opaque algorithmic management systems and widespread misclassification as self-employed workers.
They argue that platform cooperatives offer a viable alternative by placing ownership and governance in the hands of workers. Under the model, workers collectively own the platform, oversee how algorithms operate and determine how data is collected, used and shared.
“Platform cooperatives demonstrate that a fairer digital economy is possible,” the organisations said, citing the growing number of worker-owned delivery and transport platforms operating around the world.
However, they warned that such enterprises continue to face unfair competition from large digital platforms that allegedly evade employer obligations, misclassify workers and rely on opaque business practices.
The cooperative movement is urging the conference to adopt a binding Convention and Recommendation on platform work that would ensure proper worker classification, guarantee adequate social protection, require algorithmic transparency and strengthen data ownership rights.
It also called for explicit recognition of platform cooperatives within any new international labour framework.
Gender equality is another major issue on the conference agenda, with cooperatives arguing that they can play a significant role in addressing long-standing disparities in employment and economic participation.
Women remain disproportionately represented in informal, low-paid and insecure work and continue to face barriers to entrepreneurship, leadership and decision-making, the organisations noted.
They said cooperatives help address these challenges by providing women with ownership opportunities, fair remuneration, democratic participation and support networks that enable them to influence decisions affecting their working conditions, pay and work-life balance.
The organisations said the discussions at the 114th ILC represented a critical opportunity for governments, employers and workers’ organisations to recognise cooperatives as key partners in advancing decent work and gender equality.
“Decent work in the platform economy and gender equality are not separate goals,” the statement said. “They are two sides of the same challenge: building an economy where everyone can work with dignity, security and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.”
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