GENEVA: The gains generated by artificial intelligence must benefit workers and do so in a fair manner, the United Nations’ labour agency said on Monday.
AI is transforming the world of work, changing how value is created and how decisions are made, at speed and at scale, said Gilbert Houngbo, the head of the UN’s International Labour Organisation.
“Workers everywhere must be able to share the productivity gains generated by AI. Those gains must be distributed fairly through better wages, stronger labour protections, and more inclusive growth,” he told the annual International Labour Conference, which sets the ILO’s broad policies.
The most prominent figures in AI are stepping back from dire predictions about mass unemployment, as the industry faces growing public hostility over AI’s promised transformation of the workplace.
Most economic institutions, including the European Central Bank, say that AI has had only minor effects on employment so far. While AI technology is booming, ILO director-general Houngbo said that “the future of work will not be determined by technology alone, but by the policies, the institutions and the social dialogue that guide it.
“The choices we make today will determine whether AI broadens opportunity and shared prosperity or deepens inequality and insecurity,” the former prime minister of Togo said. The choices available include investing in skills, strengthening labour and social protection, supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and upholding fundamental principles and rights at work, said Houngbo. “This is ultimately a social and political choice about the future we want.” he said.
The ILO is unique in the United Nations system in that its 187 member states are equally represented by governments, employers and workers.
Those representatives are meeting at the UN’s Geneva headquarters from June 1 to 12 to discuss issues related to the world of work. ILO members hope, in particular, to finalise negotiations on a new international treaty for workers on digital platforms.
This is “an important step in responding to new forms of work and closing gaps in terms of protection and innovation”, said Houngbo.
Although they largely control tasks and pay, the platforms classify such workers as independent contractors rather than employees — a designation that allows them to bypass requirements related to minimum wages, workplace safety and access to social security, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch.
Systemic violations of rights
Repression of workers’ rights has deepened around the globe, with even “stable” countries like France and the United States now seeing eroded labour protections, the world’s largest trade union organisation said on Monday.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said 72 percent of 151 countries surveyed denied workers access to justice, with authorities in about 50pc of countries arresting or detaining workers last year.
“The crisis for workers’ rights is no longer confined to the margins — it is now at the heart of democracies,” the confederation’s general secretary Luc Triangle said in a statement presenting its annual rights index for 2026. It found that the right to strike was violated in 87pc of countries, the same level as in the previous two years, with the right to collective bargaining restricted in 80pc. The United States in particular was placed on the ITUC watch list with a rating of four for “systemic violations of rights”, while France’s rating fell to three from two, despite the country’s historically robust union presence.
Argentina and Panama were added to its 10 worst countries for workers’ rights, joining Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Myanmar, Nigeria, Tunisia and Turkiye.
“Europe and the Americas record their worst average ratings since the index began in 2014,” the report said, noting an increased use of digital surveillance to monitor and intimidate employees.
Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026
