A/79/159 of association, as labour protections are either lowered or simply do not apply at all in order to attract foreign investment. 158 42. Workers in non-standard forms of employment and in the informal economy, as well as those who are self-employed, face legal and practical challenges when unionizing. In Armenia, for instance, workers in the informal economy and self employed workers constitute a large portion of the workforce, and yet they are not authorized to form or join trade unions. 159 Domestic workers also fall outside the scope of labour legislation 160 and often cannot enjoy the rights to organize or collective bargaining as a result. 161 Sex work is another example of informal work in various parts of the world where workers often face disproportionate challenges in unionizing, as their work is not recognized as such in many countries and there is no centralized workforce to unionize. 162 In addition, many domestic legal frameworks continue to show a gap in the protection of platform workers’ rights, including their trade union rights, because most platforms characterize their businesses as technological intermediaries and consider workers as being freelance or selfemployed, 163 as has been observed in Canada, Republic of Korea and Thailand. 164 43. These and other challenges must be addressed thoroughly for trade union rights to be fully realized and for workers’ organizations to be able to continue their important work in empowering workers and preventing contemporary forms of slavery. States bear the primary responsibility in this regard under international human rights and labour laws. However, it is clear that a joined -up approach with the involvement of all relevant local, national and international actors is essential in order to create an enabling environment for the exercise of trade union and other labour rights. The voices of workers and workers’ organizations, as well as victims and survivors of contemporary forms of slavery, must be heard clearly and reflected in the process sufficiently for this to work and the Special Rapporteur urges all stakeholders to work together collaboratively. V. Conclusions 44. Workers’ organizations play a crucial role in preventing contemporary forms of slavery through various mechanisms and actions. They engage in advocacy, awareness-raising and capacity-building to promote the rights of workers; through collective bargaining, workers’ organizations negotiate with employers to improve working conditions, wages and benefits. Workers’ __________________ 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 18/21 ITUC “Global labour Index” (2024), 47; Lorenzo Cotula and Liliane Mouan, “Labour Rights in Special Economic Zones: Between Unilateralism and Transnational Law Diffusion” Journal of International Economic Law 24 (2021) p. 341; CEACR, Observation on Jamaica (Convention 87) adopted 2022, published 111th ILC session (2023); and submission by ITUC. E/C.12/ARM/CO/4, para. 33; and submission by Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia. According to ILO, 61.5 per cent of domestic workers are wholly excluded from labour laws in Asia and the Pacific and 94 per cent in the Arab States and are instead covered only by subordinate regulations. See ILO “The road to decent work for domestic wor kers” (2023), 12. CEACR, Observation on Jordan (Convention No. 98) adopted 2023, published 112th ILC session (2024), available from Normlex Database; submission by International Domestic Workers Federation (Asia); and https://www.ituc-csi.org/2023-global-rights-index-en. Submissions by Freedom Network USA and Sex Workers and Survivors United. ILO “Realizing decent work in the platform economy” (2024), para. 116; and submissions by ITUC and British Institute of International and Comparative Law. CCPR/C/KOR/CO/5, para. 57; CEACR, Direct Requests on Korea (ILO Convention Nos. 87 and 98) adopted 2023, published 112th ILC session (2024), Direct Request on Canada (ILO Convention No. 98) adopted 2023, published 112th ILC session (2024), available from Normlex Database; and submissions by Just Economy and Labour Institute, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and Federation of Korean Trade Unions. 24-13043