Addressing labour exploitation in the global workforce

[...]there are an estimated 169 million international migrant workers—and millions more who migrate for work in their own country—who are more likely than the local population to experience exploitative and harmful work conditions, leading to higher rates of injury, physical and mental health problems, and higher mortality rates.2 As the Series highlights, impending social, technological, environmental, economic, and political transitions are creating new conditions for exploitation of striving workers. From a global health perspective, this biased evidence gap is unforgiveable given the numbers of unprotected workers who are producing the world's food supply, building national roads and burgeoning cities, manufacturing our clothing and computer chips, unearthing essential minerals for climate-friendly electric vehicles, and providing essential services. Calculating the global burden of labour exploitation among low-wage workers will not solve the worker health problem but will unquestionably show the potential health gains from instituting inclusive social policies, worker-accessible health services, workplace health and safety regulations, and workers' rights to collective bargaining against extractive employment terms.