Q&A: Mexico leads on gig worker rights as UN mulls better protections

MEXICO CITY - The United Nation's agency for labour voted in June to develop global binding standards on gig work to better protect app-based workers and ensure their access to benefits.

The move by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to establish protections and benefits for gig workers, whose labour is largely unregulated around the world, has been described by Human Rights Watch as a "positive breakthrough."

Next year, ILO's 187 member states will hold final negotiations to vote on key issues, like access to social security benefits for gig workers who are engaged in temporary, informal or on-demand jobs, and improvements to algorithms that often manage their work. 

In Latin America, Mexico leads the way on gig worker rights, introducing a "sweeping" reform last year that guarantees app-based workers access to social security, public healthcare, retirement, insurance and other benefits.

Currently, Mexico has a pilot programme to register gig workers for social security and public healthcare.

Context spoke about the latest ILO rules with congresswoman Patricia Mercado, who supported the regulation of gig work in Mexico and has worked on other labour issues over the years.

Improving these workers' rights, she said, often centres on defining different types of gig workers and their labour relationships with online platforms like Uber and Deliveroo.

What was voted on during the ILO negotiations?

The first main negotiation was whether to develop a standard, which is binding for those countries that ratify it, or a recommendation which is a not binding agreement.

Representatives of platforms and some countries like China and the United States pushed for a recommendation, under the argument that tech evolves continuously and a standard would make labour relationships very rigid. But workers pushed for a standard that could force law reforms in their countries.

We also voted to define the concept of "platform worker" as a person who provides a service to a digital platform, regardless of their labour relationship with it. This definition can even include sex workers who connect to a digital platform.

It could be one or two years before we get the standard, which does delay the recognition of rights.

What would be the biggest impact of a binding global standard?

The most important change is recognising people working on digital platforms as workers with rights.

The regulation will guarantee that gig workers are not exploited. This regulation can be based on how many hours they are connected to a platform or how much they earn, but we have to recognize them as workers.

Now the debate is around definitions - there are employees and independent contractors. The most important point, however, is recognising the labour relationship with the platforms, regardless of what type of worker they are.

What's the difference between employees and independent contractors?

In Mexico, we defined employees or subordinate workers as those who earn a minimum wage and have access to social security and all benefits.

Independent contractors are those who connect to digital platforms for a short time and do not reach the minimum wage or working hours (of 288 hours per year, under Mexican law).

Each country will have to define the differences. It is a new labour model, but we cannot have wealthy companies while their workers live precariously.

What should a global standard for gig workers include?

I think it is important to acknowledge workers' time autonomy, in which they are free to decide when and how long they connect to a digital platform. It was one of the main demands by workers in Mexico and one, I think, that should be respected in the ILO negotiations.

For those workers who want to be considered as employees because they are willing to work the minimum hours and earn the necessary income to access all these rights, we should make sure that fees are not too high.

It is also very important to recognise the platforms' responsibility in terms of workers' safety. These workers are on the road all the time; we must guarantee their access to social security, to insurance in case of accidents and to protections against violence and harassment, regardless of how long they are connected to an app.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

(Reporting by Diana Baptista; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley.)