Discrimination

Discrimination is when a person is treated unfairly or less favourably than others because of who they are or their personal characteristics. It is a systemic risk across transport, affecting access to decent work, fair treatment and equal opportunity. Workers face discrimination on grounds of gender, nationality, migration status, race, age, disability, sexual orientation and employment status, and this is often intensified by the sector’s fragmented, subcontracted and mobile nature – obscuring accountability and weakening enforcement of labour protections.

Women transport workers face systemic barriers to entry, retention and progression, including unequal pay, occupational segregation and gender-based violence and harassment. Infrastructure, equipment and working environments are frequently not designed for their needs, which increases safety risks and reinforces exclusion. 

Young workers, older workers and workers in non-standard forms of employment also experience discrimination, including limited access to training, lower wages and reduced protections. Misclassification and precarious work further exclude workers. 

Migrant and cross-border workers are particularly exposed, facing unequal pay, poorer working conditions, language barriers and abuse linked to their immigration status, including harassment, coercion and unequal treatment, especially across jurisdictions. 

Discrimination compounds other human rights risks – including forced labour, violence and harassment and denial of social protection – producing cumulative harm and increasing legal, operational and reputational risks for companies.

What effective HREDD requires

Transport buyers and suppliers must address discrimination through worker-centred, risk-based HREDD. This means identifying risks in recruitment, subcontracting, pay structures and workplace practices, and ensuring that tendering processes and policies safeguard equal treatment, equal pay for work of equal value, and non-discrimination in access to employment, training, promotion, and social protection – for all workers across operations, regardless of status. 

Trade unions are essential to identifying discriminatory practices and negotiating enforceable standards on equality, pay and working conditions through collective bargaining. 

Companies must implement targeted measures to address specific risks, including gender-responsive policies, inclusive workplace design, and protections for migrant and young workers, aligned with ILO conventions on non-discrimination and violence and harassment, alongside accessible grievance mechanisms and protections against retaliation. 

Companies must work with trade unions to monitor implementation, address root causes and provide remedy where discrimination occurs