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Collective bargaining and collective action in the platform economy: A 2024 update of developments in legislation, case law and collective agreements

This working paper was prepared in 2024 and reviews developments internationally since 2021 relating to the exercise of the right to bargain collectively and the existence of collective agreements among …

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Requiem for the Wagner Act

On July 5, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) into law. Known as the Wagner Act, after its author, New York’s Sen. Robert Wagner, …

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Shaping the Future of Digital Work: A Bold Proposal for Platform Worker Rights

As the International Labour Conference gets underway, with negotiations on a crucial new international instrument for platform work now in motion, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) stands at a pivotal …

Ursula von der Leyen Is Waging War on Workers

Workers, trade unions, and social protections are today being swept off the European Union’s agenda. The wind of unbridled capitalism is blowing in from Donald Trump’s White House — but …

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ILO Commits to International Standards on Gig Work

The agreement by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on June 13, 2025, to develop binding global standards on decent work in the “platform economy,” or gig work, is a positive …

Effectiveness of the EU global human rights sanctions regime

Following more than twelve months’ discussion in the Council, the European Union’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime was adopted in December 2020 – a cause for celebration in the human …

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Ontario’s Controversial Bill 5 and Labour Rights: A Dangerous Precedent

Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, introduced this week, hides Schedule 9, Special Economic Zones Act, 2025. Bill 5’s potential gutting of protections and rights of workers, …

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Collective bargaining laws need to be front and centre in formalisation efforts

Collective bargaining must be at the heart of the upcoming International Labour Conference (ILC), as member states confront the sluggish progress made worldwide towards formalisation of the informal economy, despite a …

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Setback for casual workers as court rules forum is not a union

The Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) has lost its bid to register as an official trade union, preventing its 6,600 mainly casual worker members from access to formal representation in disputes. …

Trump takes ‘wrecking ball’ to workers’ rights amid global ‘freefall’, new report says

Workers’ rights across every continent in the world are in a “freefall”, according to the 2025 Global Rights Index released by the International Trade Union Confederation, the largest trade union federation in the …