Transport unions representing more than 16.6 million workers worldwide adopt global demands governing the use of artificial intelligence across transport.
Launched today in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Seizing Control: Transport Workers’ Principles for Artificial Intelligence sets out the conditions that employers, technology providers and governments must meet when AI affects transport workers. They establish that no AI system in transport can be responsibly conceived, assessed, deployed or governed without the workers it affects and the unions that represent them.
As the global alarm bells on AI get louder – with even industry leaders now calling for regulation and for development to slow – debate is converging around the need for transparency, independent scrutiny and the human control of AI.
“The ITF Principles turn those demands into enforceable workplace rights,” said Frank Moreels, incoming ITF President and member of the ITF Future of Work Advisory Group. “This must include the right to know what systems are being introduced, to assess their impact, to negotiate before deployment, to challenge AI-driven decisions and to retain human authority in such safety-critical operations.”
AI is already allocating work, monitoring drivers, setting fares, running signalling systems and shaping decisions on hiring, pay and discipline across transport. Transport workers and their unions understand best how operations work and are often the first to identify when technology creates risks to safety, rights or working conditions. The Principles establish worker and union involvement as an essential part of assessing, introducing and monitoring AI.
Moreels said: "Every company introducing AI into transport has a responsibility to know what that system will do to the people working under it. The tech giants selling AI into transport will tell you everything their systems can do – and nothing about what happens when they fail.”
“Workers are the first to see when a system gets it wrong: when a sensor misreads a driver, when a roster pushes crews past safe limits, when an algorithm discriminates, when a worker is killed when systems fail. That is why unions are not an obstacle to AI, we are essential to getting it right and improving both operations and jobs."
Seizing control of AI in transport
Horacio Calculli, Chair of the ITF Future of Work Advisory Group, said: “The question is not whether AI will be used in transport, but who controls it, who benefits from it and whose interests it serves? AI in transport must serve the workers who keep the world moving and the public they serve, not shareholders and tech giants."
“These Principles give transport unions, responsible employers and governments a common platform to responsibly assess, deploy and govern AI in transport. What we have agreed is a common floor, the rights every transport worker must hold whatever the system is called and whichever country they work in.”
Grounded in ILO standards and consistent with the UN Guiding Principles and OECD Guidelines, the Principles make clear that engaging workers and their unions is a core part of due diligence on AI, from conception to rollout across operations. Companies serious about the risks posed by AI now have a clear route to engage with transport unions.
“Governments and technology companies are debating how to keep AI under human control. For transport workers, that is not a future or theoretical question, it is about who allocates their work, assesses their performance, determines their pay and discipline, and makes decisions affecting safety,” said Baker Khundakji, ITF Future of Work Lead.
“The first step is information. Employers must disclose what AI systems are being introduced, what data they use, how they work and which decisions they influence. Workers cannot negotiate over a system they have not been told exists. Without transparency, there can be no meaningful consultation or collective bargaining.”
“Rules on AI are urgently needed. Transport unions will take these Principles to the bargaining table and to their governments to demand binding, enforceable regulation, including ratification of ILO Convention 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy,” said Khundakji.
The conference committed the ITF to building a cross-border and transport-wide picture of how AI is being deployed across multinational companies and supply chains, developing practical bargaining, information-request and impact-assessment tools for affiliates, and coordinating advocacy for binding regulation. This will include campaigning for the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy.
The ITF's AI Principles
01 Human Rights, Labour Rights and Democracy by Design
Human rights, labour rights, equality and worker dignity must be at the heart of AI in transport.
02 Mandatory Information, Consultation and Negotiation
Unions must have enforceable rights to be informed and consulted – and able to negotiate – before AI systems that impact transport workers are introduced or modified.
03 Human Oversight and Decision-Making Authority
Workers must have the right to challenge AI-driven decisions. And in safety-critical transport operations, humans must remain in control.
04 Occupational Safety and Health and the Precautionary Principle
Workers must have the right to stop work when AI creates unsafe conditions. The burden of proof to show AI systems make a workplace safer lies with employers, not workers.
05 Data Rights, Transparency and Algorithmic Accountability
Data generated by workers is a product of their labour. They must have rights over it – informed consent, compensation, control over personal data and limits on surveillance.
06 Equality, Gender Justice and Youth Protection
AI must not deepen inequalities affecting women, young and older workers, migrants, workers with disabilities or other marginalised groups. Those most exposed to its effects must have a voice in how AI shapes their work.
07 Corporate and Supply Chain Accountability
Companies must be accountable for labour standards and due diligence across their entire supply chain – not just where AI regulation is strongest.
08 Fair Distribution of Productivity Gains
AI-driven productivity must deliver workers better pay, shorter hours with no loss of pay, better jobs and opportunities for training and reskilling.
ENDS
Notes to editors
The Principles were adopted by delegates at the close of the ITF Transport Workers' Conference on Artificial Intelligence, held 15–18 September 2026 in Colombo, Sri Lanka – a conference that brought together union leaders, negotiators and workers from across transport including aviation, ports, shipping, rail, road transport, warehousing, urban transport and the platform economy.
Seizing Control: Transport Workers' Principles for AI is available at https://www.itfglobal.org/en/resources/seizing-control-transport-workers-principles-artificial-intelligence
The Principles are grounded in international labour standards, including the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment, ILO Convention 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy, the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, and the ILO Tripartite Declaration concerning Multinational Enterprises.
About the ITF
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic, affiliate-led federation of over 760 transport unions in 150 countries, representing more than 16.6 million transport workers. Founded in 1896, the ITF works to protect and improve the lives and futures of transport workers worldwide.
Media contact: media@itf.org.uk
Photo credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
