G20 Radio Bulletin 79 - Opinion: app workers' rights must be guaranteed
In an article on the G20 website, researcher Atahualpa Blanchet highlights the importance of seeking global consensus about ethics and transparency for the use of Artificial Intelligence in the world of work. Listen and find out more!
Reporter: Over the last few years, work through digital platforms has become a reality in many parts of the world, transforming the lives of thousands of people who develop their activities through apps and those who use the services offered by these tools. In a context of deep transformations, marked by the digitalization of labor relations, the G20 and its Labor and Employment Group are fundamental spaces for building consensus aimed at reducing inequalities.
This is the evaluation of researcher Atahualpa Blanchet published on the G20 website. According to Blanchet, it's important to note that the model of work based on digital platforms is not limited to sectors such as transportation and deliveries. The modality is rapidly expanding into areas such as software programming, creative services and education, for example, pointing to the tendency for other activities to enter the platform system.
Atahualpa Blanchet: This phenomenon of platform work has challenged the application of the parameters of current labor legislation in the G20 countries. This requires a debate and a position from the part of governments, together with workers and also companies, precisely in order to find regulations that are able to contemplate the complexity and scope of this phenomenon, bearing in mind that platform work goes far beyond delivery workers and drivers; it can also be applied to various professional categories, whether through cloud work, work cloud computing. So it is essential that there is a debate to guarantee the basic right to collective negotiation for these workers, that there is a position on what algorithmic management is today and its impacts on the world of work.
Reporter: Researcher Atahualpa Blanchet reports that in G20 countries we observe different regulations on the work of digital platforms. In his article, he describes that in March this year the European Union approved its first standard on the use of Artificial Intelligence management systems in the workplace. In the same month, the Brazilian government presented a legal project to regulate the activities of app drivers. In the UK, a determination by the Supreme Court guaranteed drivers rights such as minimum wage, vacation and retirement. To read the full article, access g20.org.