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27 Mar

Posted at 16:13h in

Migrant Fishers Union and Allies Outraged by Seafood Industry’s ‘Tone-Deaf’ Admission that Isolation is Deliberate

Seafood industry tells migrant fishers experiencing forced labor and horrific work conditions that being able to communicate while at sea will “hinder their work mood”

TAIPEI—Unions, worker organizations, and civil society organizations in the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights campaign have responded to comments by the Taiwan Tuna Association, opposing Wi-Fi for fishers under the pretext that isolation enhances productivity.

“The Tuna Association’s brazen and tone-deaf comments reveal a shocking truth–they prioritize productivity over the fundamental labor rights and well-being of the fishers and their families. Fishers should have the right to access their pay, voice concerns to unions or officials, and maintain contact with their families,” emphasized Achmad Mudzakir, Chairman of the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI). 

In an interview with industry publication Seafood Source, a representative from the Taiwan Tuna Administration stated that they believe that providing Wi-Fi for fishers will “seriously hinder their work mood” and distract them from their work.

“The Taiwanese distant-water fishing business model should not depend on exploiting forced labor and the complete seclusion of migrant fishers. If Taiwan’s fishing industry really wants to improve fishers’ work moods and conditions, it would provide mandatory secure Wi-Fi internet access on all deep-sea fishing vessels so fishers can communicate with their families and with their unions to report any abuses in real-time,” said Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum, Executive Director of Global Labor Justice–International Labor Rights Forum. “Migrant fishers face extraordinary barriers to freedom of association. Wi-Fi access would provide a lifeline for migrant fishers and a crucial first step towards ensuring that the Taiwanese fishing industry, and the brands it supplies, uphold their commitments to human rights, supplier codes of conduct, and global labor standards,” added Rosenbaum.

Migrant fishers in Taiwan’s distant-water fleet are speaking out against the conditions they face, including forced labor, physical abuse, wage theft, death and disappearances at sea, and a total lack of communication with their families and the outside world while at sea for months at a time. The plight of migrant fishers in Taiwan’s fleet has garnered renewed attention after the recent explosive story from the Guardian on the horrific working conditions faced by the fishers who supply 1.8 billion USD of Taiwan’s distant-water fishing products, including tuna and squid, to major global markets.

The Wi-Fi Now For Fishers’ Rights Campaign is made up of  U.S., Taiwanese and Indonesian allies, including the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum, or Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia (FOSPI), Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Serve the People Association (SPA), and Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC).

Contact: Julie Blust 215-713-6777 julieblust at globallaborjustice.org
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24 Mar

Posted at 18:21h in

For Immediate Release

March 24, 2022

Contact: Rachel Cohen, racohen78@gmail.com, 917-370-8464

Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum Sues Global Tuna Giant Bumble Bee Over False Advertising of ‘Fair and Safe’ Fishing Practices

WASHINGTON D.C. – Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) today announced it filed suit against Bumble Bee Foods, LLC – North America’s largest canned tuna brand and subsidiary of Fong Chun Formosa Fishery Company, Ltd. (FCF), a Taiwan-based seafood trader ranked as one of the top three in the world – over its false and deceptive marketing claims that it sources its tuna through a “fair and safe supply chain.”

GLJ-ILRF’s lawsuit alleges significant evidence that the canned-fish giant’s supply chain is rife with forced labor and worker safety violations and demands Bumble Bee show that advertising is backed up by meaningful practices to protect workers, or otherwise cease making the deceptive marketing claims.

“Bumble Bee’s false and misleading advertising is bad for workers and bad for consumers who want to buy ethically sourced products,” said Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum, Executive Director of GLJ-ILRF. “There is a growing concern by consumers and the public about conditions faced by workers who produce global food supply chains. These workers should be able to work in decent conditions and provide a stable life for their families. At GLJ-ILRF, we will continue to expose false claims and demand meaningful action.”

The lawsuit details evidence that Bumble Bee and its main supplier and parent company FCF have a long history of engaging in or allowing unfair and dangerous labor practices in the commercial fishing of the tuna consumers find behind the Bumble Bee label. Fishing vessels in FCF’s supply chain employ fishing methods that are inherently dangerous, such as distant water fishing and transhipment. Working conditions in supply chains reportedly involve up to 34-hour workdays, inadequate sleep, withheld wages, and little to no food. In addition, there have been various documented instances of forced labor; illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing; and even deaths of workers.

Despite the well-documented abuses, which are detailed in the complaint, Bumble Bee’s marketing and advertising claim the company is “best-in-class” when it comes to worker safety standards and that its “mission” is to “champion sustainable fishing” throughout its supply chain.

“Deceptive marketing practices that falsely claim to ensure fair labor and worker safety standards are an impediment to meaningful efforts for change,” said Kimberly Rogovin, Senior Seafood Campaign Coordinator at GLJ-ILRF. “As a market leader, Bumble Bee is able to use its ‘fair and safe’ claims to convince wide swaths of consumers without needing to change its company’s purchasing habits, and to shut out the efforts of advocacy groups and competitors for genuine reform.”

GLJ-ILRF brought suit under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which allows public interest non-profit organizations to bring consumer protection claims on behalf of consumers and the general public. GLJ-ILRF is represented in this case by Richman Law & Policy.

For more information on labor abuse in seafood supply chains, see GLJ-ILRF’s report Labor Abuse in Taiwan’s Seafood Industry & Local Advocacy for Reform, which illustrates egregious human rights abuses in Taiwan’s fishing industry, and Time for a Sea Change, which discusses the problem of forced labor in the Thai seafood industry. More background information is also available here.

You can find a copy of the lawsuit here. 

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GLJ–ILRF is a non-profit public-interest organization dedicated to achieving dignity and justice for workers worldwide. GLJ-ILRF focuses on enforcing labor rights and promoting decent work conditions consistent with best practices and ILO standards in the low-wage sections of global supply chains such as commercial fishing. GLJ-ILRF engages in research, policy work, advocacy, and education of the public and consumers.

19 Jul

Posted at 18:47h in

For Immediate Release

July 19, 2022

Contact: Rachel Cohen, racohen78@gmail.com, 917-370-8464

Seafood Labor Activists Blast US for Thailand, Taiwan Rankings in TIP Report That Gives a Pass to Widespread Worker Abuses

Seafood Labor Activists Blast US for Thailand, Taiwan Rankings in TIP Report That Gives a Pass to Widespread Worker Abuses

Washington D.C. – Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) and allies in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) today said the U.S. government has given a pass to Thailand and Taiwan on widespread abuses in the countries’ fishing and seafood processing sectors by upgrading them in its latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.

“We are dismayed and disappointed that the U.S. State Department is in effect condoning and rewarding the Thai and Taiwanese governments’ failures to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. We have documented widespread abuses of migrant workers and forced labor in the fishing industry in both countries and we will continue to fight with local and international allies to eradicate them and help all workers ensure the right to advocate for themselves, form unions and bargain collectively,” said Kimberly Rogovin, Senior Seafood Campaign Coordinator of GLJ-ILRF.

For years, the SWG has urged the U.S. government to use its diplomatic and economic power to demand companies around the world respect labor rights if they want access to the U.S. market. This year the group issued reports on Thailand and Taiwan, outlining abuses in the seafood industry and calling for them to be ranked Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 2, respectively.

Instead, the U.S. State Department announced today its decision to upgrade Thailand to Tier 2 and to maintain Taiwan at Tier 1.

According to the State Department’s report, the key reason for the Thailand upgrade appears to be the increased number of trafficking investigations. Increasing investigations is needed, the SWG says, but it is not a significant indicator of improvement when the government maintains discriminatory legal frameworks and fails to promote and protect labor rights for vulnerable categories of workers.

“The upgrade to Tier 2 was not warranted as Thailand still restricts migrant workers’ fundamental rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. All humans are entitled to the right to form a trade union or association in order to collectively bargain, irrespective of their nationality. Respecting these rights can mitigate social conflicts and reduce the risks of falling victim to human trafficking. For work to be decent, the Thai government must guarantee the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining,” said Suthasinee Kaewleklai, Coordinator at Migrant Workers Rights Network in Thailand.

The SWG says that the State Department should not have upgraded Thailand until it makes critical reforms. They are calling on the Thai government to:

  1. Ensure full rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining for all workers in line with international standards;

  2. Establish long-term, comprehensive labor migration protections for migrants that effectively ban recruitment fees and eliminates private employment agencies from the process;

  3. Withdraw the Draft Act on the Operations of Not-for-Profit Organizations;

  4. Ensure victim-centered and trauma-informed prosecutions;

  5. Establish regular, rigorous labor inspections; and

  6. Provide legal guidance to law enforcement officials so they can effectively identify the crimes of human trafficking and forced labor.

 

“The Thai government proclaims its dedication to stamping out human trafficking, but at the same time, it is pushing forward a draft law on non-profit organizations with onerous restrictions on NGOs that will effectively wipe out many of the civil society groups who are working on the front line of anti-trafficking response. The U.S. government and other governments who care about stopping human trafficking in the Mekong sub-region should intervene to tell Thailand to drop that rights-abusing NGO law before it’s too late,” said Phil Roberston, Deputy Director for Asia, Human Rights Watch.

“Myanmar people are struggling to survive under the military dictatorship that has forced many to flee in search of work to support themselves and family back home. Companies in the global seafood supply chain in Thailand and elsewhere have taken advantage of desperate migrants, denying them of their rights and forcing them to work under abusive conditions for little pay. The Thai government has turned a blind eye to trafficking and maintained unsafe migration channels. We need the U.S. to keep up an international campaign to help Myanmar people and other migrants win full rights under the law,” said Htoo Chit,  Founder and Director, Foundation for Education and Development (FED).

SWG Says Taiwan Hasn’t Taken Sufficient Steps to Protect Migrant Fishers

The SWG has also called out abuses in the Taiwanese fishing industry, sharing its own recent findings, including the government’s failure to conduct timely investigations into the working conditions on the Da-Wang and Chin-Chun No. 12 vessels– despite strong indicators of human trafficking– until the U.S. government issued a trade ban. The SWG report also found that the government had not taken the necessary steps to identify and protect survivors through provision of services, nor did it administer labor inspections on distant water fishing vessels, which has allowed companies to keep victims hidden and outside the government’s safety net.

“As a human rights organization that maintains long-standing concerns about the abusive labor conditions of the migrant fishers on Taiwanese vessels, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights strongly disagrees with the U.S. Department of State’s decision to maintain Taiwan’s Tier 1 ranking. This not only fails to reflect the severity of human trafficking and forced labor in Taiwan, but also fails to effectively encourage the Taiwanese government to take further action against human trafficking,” said Yi-Hsiang, Shih, Secretary General of Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR).

“It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see the Tier 1 grading in the TIP Report once again. The U.S. government should be able to look past the government’s public relations efforts and see the real situation. The fact is: most of the discrimination, forced labor, human trafficking, and violations of human and labor rights of migrant workers has not changed at all. A small raise in the minimum wage for domestic workers and distant water fishermen—who have been excluded from the Labor Standard Act and the general minimum wage until now—cannot make up for their ongoing exploitation that the Tier 1 grading fails to recognize. Geopolitics should be separate from human rights,” said Lennon Ying-Dah Wong, Director of the Department of Policies on Migrant Workers, Serve the People Association, Taoyuan (SPA).

“While Taiwan remains at Tier 1, the government will not be forced to face the music that there are victims of human rights exploitation in our society. Migrant fishers will still be discriminated against under the law and exploited by manning agencies and boat captains. The abuse of migrant workers will remain hidden from the international community,” said Jason Lee, Member of the Fishermen Service Section at Rerum Novarum Center in Taiwan.

 

The SWG has asked the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) to support the following recommendations to the Taiwanese government. The members aver to continue to press the governments of the U.S. and Taiwan to address these issues:

  1. Abolish the overseas employment scheme for migrant fishers and ensure all migrant fishers are governed by the Ministry of Labor and thus afforded the same rights and protections as Taiwanese fishers.

  2. Establish a clear timeline for swift and full domestication and implementation of the ILO Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188).

  3. Increase inspections on vessels of Taiwan-owned and flagged as well as Taiwan-owned and foreign flagged vessels, and prosecute the owners and senior crew suspected of forced labor, especially among the distant water fishing vessels.

  4. Deploy labor inspection personnel in foreign ports where Taiwan’s distant water fishing vessels are authorized to port, and train all maritime-related inspection authorities on victim identification and law enforcement.

  5. Increase transparency in the fishery sector by requiring disclosure of vessel position, 100% observer coverage, and ensuring the safety of all observers on all fishing vessels.

“Over the past 13 years, the Taiwanese government has designed numerous action plans and regulations just to maintain the minimum standards and keep Taiwan at Tier 1, but it has never taken any concrete action to prevent human trafficking of migrant fishers. Until the government actually implements the international labor conventions and domestic regulations it has committed to, uses public power to protect labor, and no longer condones the exploitation of labor by employers, they do not deserve the Tier 1 ranking,” said Allison Lee, Secretary-General of the Yilan Migrant Fishermen’s Union (YMFU) in Taiwan.

Frontline Taiwanese NGOs will hold an online press conference on the TIP Report on Thursday, 21 July 10:00-11:00AM Taiwan (20 July 10:00-11:00PM US EDT)

Hosted by: Coalition for the Protection of Human Rights of Migrant Fishers in Taiwan in collaboration with the Seafood Working Group (SWG)

You can join Thursday at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84545821384?pwd=NC8rWlBMMWUwS2tRdDZwdk5IbUJrUT09

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GLJ–ILRF is a non-profit public-interest organization dedicated to achieving dignity and justice for workers worldwide. GLJ-ILRF focuses on enforcing labor rights and promoting decent work conditions consistent with best practices and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards in the low-wage sections of global supply chains such as commercial fishing. GLJ-ILRF engages in research, policy work, advocacy, and education of the public and consumers.

 

Chaired by GLJ-ILRF, the Seafood Working Group (SWG) is a global coalition of human rights, labor and environmental organizations that work together to develop and advocate for effective government policies and industry actions to end the related problems of forced labor, illegal fishing and overfishing in the international seafood trade.

10 Mar

Posted at 22:30h in

For Immediate Release

March 12, 2023

Contact: Rachel Cohen, racohen78@gmail.com

Migrant Fishers Bring Call for Labor Rights to Boston Seafood Expo

Boston – Boston fishing and labor advocates, teachers and community members today joined Taiwan’s migrant fishers at the Seafood Expo North America to call on big seafood brands to take responsibility for their supply chains and ensure fishers’ fundamental labor rights at sea. 

Fishers spoke out about the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights at Sea campaign and why having Wi-Fi communication is vital to protecting their rights. 

“Conditions are very tough on the high seas. We need Wi-Fi to communicate with our labor organizations and families. This is how we will protect our rights and our mental health and ensure we are getting fair pay and treatment. We are asking seafood companies, governments and vessel owners to ensure we have rights on the job and a way to talk to the outside world when we’re at sea,” said Edi Kasdiwan of the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI), who traveled to Boston to attend the Expo. 

Faith, labor and community leaders from the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, the Boston Teachers Union, Boston Seafarers Mission, UFCW Local 1445, MassCOSH, Catholic Labor Guild, North Shore Labor Council  and other groups joined migrant fishers who work on Taiwanese deep-sea fishing vessels and other US and Taiwanese allies at the Expo. They called out the big seafood companies that make claims of a fair and safe supply chain but take little responsibility when it comes to ensuring that fishers in their supply chains work under international labor standards.

At sea for up to a year, workers are isolated and unable to communicate with their family, labor organizations, service providers, or state officials. The fishers have launched a global solidarity campaign to call for Wi-Fi on every vessel in the Taiwanese distant water fleet as a critical necessity to ensure workers’ rights under international labor standards. They are fighting for the right to organize and to end forced labor, violence and health and safety violations on their ships.

Taiwan has the world’s second largest distant water fleet, with more than 22,000 crew, the majority being migrant workers. Without access to Wi-Fi onboard fishing vessels, workers are isolated and unable to communicate with their labor organizations, service providers, state officials or their families.

Many workers have reported harrowing conditions aboard these vessels, including insufficient drinking water and food, sanitation problems, lack of onboard safety measures, high recruitment fees that put workers in debt, arbitrary wage deductions, unilateral contract termination and deportation without due process, as well as egregious abuses such as forced labor, physical abuse, murders, and disappearances at sea.

In a recent incident reported by the Yilan Migrant Fishers Union, fishers on a vessel called the Shunjie– operating in the Tonga Islands without Wi-Fi equipment–  were forced to work 20 hours a day and wrap wounds from their work with wire tapes because there were no bandages. The fishers said the captain scolded them when they were ill and asked for medicine. After months under these conditions, the fishers were only able to reach out for help when they docked and fellow fishers shared their Wi-Fi connection.

The fishers have come together to call on the U.S., Japanese and Taiwanese governments, vessel owners, seafood brands and investors to recognize their right to the ILO’s fundamental rights. Workers are looking for dialogue with companies to find solutions.

“We are in Boston to hold the world’s biggest seafood companies responsible for their supply chains. Fishers are workers who deserve rights on the job. Taiwan’s migrant fishers have launched a global campaign for that right and it’s time for these brands and retailers to come to the table with fishers and ensure that vessel owners respect their rights. These global buyers have the power to improve conditions and ensure communications access for workers in distant-water fleets,” said Kimberly Rogovin, Senior Seafood Campaign Coordinator, GLJ-ILRF.

The fishers have organized their international campaign with U.S., Taiwanese and Indonesian allies, including Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum, or Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia (FOSPI), Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC).

Click here for more info about the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights at Sea campaign.

 

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Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ – ILRF) is a non-governmental organization that works transnationally to advance policies and laws that protect decent work; to strengthen freedom of association and workers’ ability to advocate for their rights; and to hold corporations accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains. 



08 Mar

Posted at 19:56h in

For Immediate Release

March 8, 2023

Contact: Rachel Cohen, racohen78@gmail.com

Global Tuna Giant Takes Positive Step to Resolve GLJ-ILRF Allegations of Overstated Labor Rights Claims

WASHINGTON– Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) today welcomed a settlement with Bumble Bee Foods, under which the tuna giant agreed to remove specific claims about its fishing practices and working conditions, including “fair and safe supply chain” and “fair and responsible working conditions,” from its website, social media presence, and other public advertising to reach a mutual settlement of the lawsuit.

The resolution of the lawsuit coincides with the recent launch of the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights at Sea campaign to ensure fair and responsible working conditions for Taiwan’s migrant distant-water fishers. The fishers have launched a campaign for fundamental workers’ rights– including freedom of association and health and safety at work– and for Wi-Fi access on their vessels so they can protect those rights.

Migrant fishers, GLJ-ILRF and other Taiwanese and U.S. allies will bring the call for these rights to big seafood producers and brands at the North America Seafood Expo in Boston this weekend.

“This settlement is a step in the right direction, and we are hoping for productive dialogue with Bumble Bee and other industry actors and governments about ensuring accessible and encrypted Wi-Fi for fishers in Taiwan’s fleet. Wi-Fi on every vessel would enable workers to protect their fundamental labor rights on board and prevent labor exploitation. This is an opportunity for industry, governments, fishers, and their unions to work together towards a shared solution,” said Sahiba Gill, Senior Staff Attorney at GLJ-ILRF.

In March 2022, GLJ-ILRF filed suit in a Washington D.C. court against Bumble Bee Foods, LLC– North America’s largest canned tuna brand and subsidiary of Fong Chun Formosa Fishery Company, Ltd. (FCF), a Taiwan-based seafood trader ranked as one of the top three in the world – over its marketing claims that it sources its tuna through a “fair and safe supply chain.” The lawsuit highlighted a history of labor problems in the deep sea fishing sector and demanded Bumble Bee show its advertising was backed up by meaningful practices to protect workers and the environment.  Through the settlement, Bumble Bee agreed to remove the disputed statements for ten years.

“Now the work continues to ensure fishers in Bumble Bee’s supply chain and across the sector fish in decent conditions. Wi-Fi access for all fishers in the Taiwan fleet is a first step in that direction,” said Kimberly Rogovin, GLJ-ILRF Senior Seafood Campaign Coordinator.

GLJ-ILRF brought suit under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which allows public interest non-profit organizations to bring consumer protection claims on behalf of consumers and the general public. GLJ-ILRF was represented in this case by Richman Law & Policy.

Updates on the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights at Sea here

Read GLJ-ILRF’s report Wi-Fi for Fishers at Sea

 

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Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ – ILRF) is a non-governmental organization that works transnationally to advance policies and laws that protect decent work; to strengthen freedom of association and workers’ ability to advocate for their rights; and to hold corporations accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains.

26 May

Posted at 16:30h in

The Wi-Fi Now For Fishers’ Rights Campaign issued the following statement on the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade:

On Tuesday, May 23rd, dozens of Taiwanese unions, civil society organizations, and migrant worker organizations in Taipei issued their demands for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade to the Taiwanese and U.S. governments, calling on the governments to protect labor and the environment as they negotiate the trade initiative this year.

The Wi-Fi Now For Fishers’ Rights Campaign, represented by the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Serve the People Association (SPA), and the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI), participated in the action to ensure fishers’ rights in Taiwan are protected in the labor chapter of the trade initiative. Our coalition members called for the trade initiative to include special protections for migrant fishers in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing fleet, specifically: guaranteed and secure Wi-Fi communication while at sea to ensure their ILO fundamental labor rights, including the right to form and join unions.

Migrant workers are a major contributor to the Taiwanese economy, with more than 750,000 working in many key industries under unjust and abusive working conditions. More than 22,000 Southeast Asian migrants work in Taiwan’s fishing industry, which comprises over a thousand vessels that fish in all of the world’s oceans. Fishers at sea face forced labor and other abusive conditions that have driven them to organize unions – but without regular Wi-Fi access to connect them back to shore, the ocean is effectively a “no union zone” for too many of these workers. This violates international standards on fundamental labor rights that Taiwan and the United States have committed to upholding as part of the trade initiative.  Our campaign has called on the U.S. and Taiwan to ensure fishers can exercise their international labor rights, including freedom of association, by ensuring access to Wi-Fi communication at sea. 

Seafood production in Taiwan is a pivotal industry for labor and should be addressed in the trade initiative. Taiwan has the world’s second-biggest distant-water fleet and the U.S. is the second largest importer of seafood worldwide. Much of the tuna and other fish that fishers catch on Taiwanese vessels is sold in the U.S. and Taiwan’s fish has been listed on the U.S. Department of Labor List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor for the past two years.  

The Wi-Fi Campaign met with trade negotiators in the U.S. and Taiwan earlier this year and proposed concrete language for the labor chapter that would ensure fishers’ rights are protected in the trade initiative. During this week’s action, the delegation brought their demands to the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan and the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT). 

We launched our international campaign to support migrant fishers in their fight for Wi-Fi because the fishers’ have named it as a key component in their fight for their fundamental labor rights at sea. They face extremely severe abuses in Taiwan’s fishing industry, which have been documented by the U.S. government and other actors. Last year, the Biden Administration issued a high-level memorandum identifying forced labor as a major issue in distant water fishing, especially “Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated” or “IUU” fishing.  

We urge the Executive Yuan and the Biden administration to ensure that the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade contains commitments to fundamental labor rights for all workers, including freedom of association, health and safety protections, and elimination of forced labor and discrimination against migrant workers. We will continue our advocacy as negotiations continue. 

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The Wi-Fi Now For Fishers’ Rights Campaign is made up of  U.S., Taiwanese and Indonesian allies, including the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum, or Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia (FOSPI), Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Serve the People Association (SPA), and Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC).

 

Click here for more info about the Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights at Sea campaign.

06 Jun

Posted at 14:43h in

For Immediate Release

June 5, 2023

Contact:
Rachel Cohen, GLJ-ILRF, racohen78@gmail.com
Tanya Brooks, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, P: 703-342-9226, E: tbrooks@greenpeace.org

Ahead of TIP Report, Labor Rights Activists Urge U.S. to Call for Thailand and Taiwan to Protect Migrant Workers and End Forced Labor in Seafood Industry

Seafood Working Group Recommends U.S. Downgrading Taiwan to ‘Tier 2’ and Thailand to ‘Tier 2 Watchlist’ in the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report

WASHINGTON, DC (June 5, 2023) – Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Greenpeace USA, and allies in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) today announced their findings of labor rights violations, forced labor, and human trafficking of migrant workers in Thailand and Taiwan and called on the U.S. Department of State to downgrade both countries in its 2023 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report in order to hold the governments accountable for these abuses.

“In our submissions, workers and their allies make clear that continuous barriers to migrant workers’ ability to exercise their fundamental labor rights, including discriminatory legal frameworks, short-term guest worker policies, and misconduct by authorities, must be addressed to end exploitation,” said Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum, Executive Director of GLJ-ILRF. “We intend that the submissions to the State Department bring workers’ experiences into policy-making spaces in the U.S. and in Thailand and Taiwan. Our experience shows that ensuring workers’ fundamental rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining prevents situations of exploitation that lead to forced labor from occurring in the first place.”

Tefere Gebre, Chief Program Officer for Greenpeace USA, said, “For many years, the Greenpeace network has documented serious issues of human trafficking and forced labor in the Taiwanese distant water fishing industry. While lives are at stake, governments and businesses have not addressed these issues with the urgency and resources they require. The revelations in our submission detail issues happening right now and should deepen concerns about the high-risk nature of the seafood supply chain. We call on the U.S. government to increase its monitoring of seafood imports and strengthen efforts to prevent these harms from occurring in the first place. Companies that source these products must prioritize the safety and wellbeing of workers in their supply chains, and ensure their customers receive products free from forced labor and modern slavery.”

Thailand falls short of minimum standards 

The SWG recommends that the U.S. downgrade Thailand to the Tier 2 Watchlist in 2023 as it  continues to fall short of the minimum standards the U.S. has set under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) to eliminate forced labor. The Government of Thailand has not provided evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons compared to the previous year, including not adequately adopting the majority of the TIP Office’s Prioritized Recommendations outlined in the 2022 TIP Report.

The Government of Thailand committed in August 2022 to granting migrant workers the legal right to establish labor unions as part of its anti-trafficking efforts, but it has not fulfilled its promise. The government also adopted anti-trafficking measures intended to strengthen the identification of survivors of forced labor, but has not effectively implemented these new policies on the ground. The Thailand submission documents 17 cases of potential forced labor, including cases in which workers are unable to resign due to document retention, withholding of wages, physical violence, debt bondage, or death threats.

“The Thai government needs to ensure migrant workers are paid adequate wages, do not have to pay high fees to brokers, and are not harassed by authorities, as we need decent jobs here because it is not safe to return to Myanmar,” said a female seafood processing worker and member of the Migrant Workers’ Rights Network (MWRN) in Thailand. 

“After progressive parties won most of the votes in Thailand’s recent general election, we are hopeful a future government will implement policies to protect migrant workers’ rights, particularly rights to unionization for all workers, including migrant workers, said Roisai Wongsuban, Senior Program Advisor at The Freedom Fund. 

Taiwan has made insufficient efforts to remain at Tier 1

The SWG also recommends that Taiwan should be downgraded to Tier 2 as it fails to meet the TVPA minimum standards but is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. To maintain a Tier 1 ranking, governments need to demonstrate appreciable progress each year in combating trafficking. During the reporting period, the Taiwanese government made efforts to improve the working conditions in its distant water fishing industry, however, these have not been appreciable. The findings of this submission show that Taiwan has not made progress on the majority of the TIP Office’s Prioritized Recommendations from their 2022 Report.

“The government has made some improvements in recent years, such as installing CCTV on vessels, increasing crew salaries, and requiring life jackets. However, migrant fishers still remain totally isolated from the outside world when sailing on the high seas for months. Communication access through Wi-Fi on board is the most powerful thing to protect workers’ rights, prevent forced labor, and maintain the mental health of workers on the high seas,” said Ahmed Mudzakir, Chairman, Indonesian Seafarers’ Gathering Forum (FOSPI).

“The 21st Century Initiative on trade between Taiwan and the U.S. is quickly being developed. To facilitate a successful trade initiative between the U.S. and Taiwan and to prevent any products sourced from Taiwan involving labor exploitation, the Taiwanese government should continue to improve its regulatory practices in advancing the rights of distant water fishers. This means ending the two-tiered employment system, properly regulating the recruitment agencies to implement the ILO’s fair recruitment principles, and ensuring internet access and fishers’ freedom of association rights on the high seas,” said Lennon Ying-Dah Wong, Director of the Dept. of Politics on Migrant Workers, Serve the People Association (SPA). 

There have been well-documented cases of labor abuse in the Taiwanese fishing industry. For two years in a row, the U.S. Department of Labor placed Taiwan-caught fish on its list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor. In September 2022, Greenpeace East Asia published the report, Fake My Catch, which documented forced labor indicators on six Taiwan-owned or – flagged fishing vessels supplying to Bumble Bee Seafoods, including excessive overtime and retention of identity documents. Over two-thirds of the surveyed workers reportedly had their wages withheld.  

Click here to read the comments from the Seafood Working Group to the U.S. State Department on Thailand and Taiwan. 

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Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ – ILRF) is a non-governmental organization that works transnationally to advance policies and laws that protect decent work; to strengthen freedom of association and workers’ ability to advocate for their rights; and to hold corporations accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains.

Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

The Seafood Working Group (SWG) is a global coalition of human rights, labor and environmental organizations that work together to develop and advocate for effective government policies and industry actions to end the related problems of labor exploitation, illegal fishing and overfishing in the international seafood trade.

16 Jun

Posted at 14:00h in

The Groups Say Thailand Should Have Been Downgraded to Tier 2 Watchlist, and Taiwan Downgraded to Tier 2 

Washington D.C. – Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) and allies in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) today said the U.S. State Department is neglecting labor rights abuses in Taiwan and Thailand’s fishing industry as it maintains their current rankings in the latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.

For years, the SWG has urged the U.S. State Department to use its diplomatic power to promote respect for labor rights. This year the group issued its own reports on Thailand and Taiwan, detailing its findings of the government’s failure to prevent and address labor rights violations, forced labor, and human trafficking of migrant workers, and calling on the U.S. State Department to downgrade both countries in the TIP Report, which is the U.S. government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking.

Instead, the State Department announced its decision to maintain Thailand at Tier 2 and maintain Taiwan at Tier 1, rankings for countries that are either meeting minimum standards to address labor trafficking or taking significant steps to do so.

“This year’s rankings give a pass to Taiwan and Thailand for repression of workers’ rights. The State Department should not consider any country to be taking significant steps to address trafficking while it fails to protect the freedom of association for vulnerable workers, including migrant workers and fishers. In particular, labor power, beginning with labor rights for all workers, including migrants, must be the focus of any response to forced labor and trafficking,” said GLJ-ILRF Forced Labor Program Director Allison Gill. “The U.S. should only grant Tier 1 or 2 status to a country when the government has developed laws and related practices that ensure migrant workers’ fundamental labor rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, health and safety protections, and non-discrimination protections. Taiwan and Thailand both fail to meet that standard.”

Fishing workers and their labor organizations in both Taiwan and Thailand and international allies have called for key changes to the industry that will enable fishers in both countries to exercise their fundamental labor rights. In Taiwan, migrant fishers are demanding access to guaranteed, free and encrypted Wi-Fi at sea so they may communicate with each other, and their unions and report abuse in real-time. In Thailand, migrant fishers and seafood processing workers and their allies are demanding the removal of the discriminatory provision in the Labor Relations Act that reserves the right to form and lead a union to Thai nationals only.

“As GLJ-ILRF’s work has shown, freedom of association and collective bargaining rights are critical for workers fighting back against forced labor, particularly migrant workers, and for creating durable solutions, said GLJ-ILRF Senior Seafood Campaign Coordinator Kimberly Rogovin. “The more the global seafood sector is organized, the less abuse arises. Thailand and Taiwan are both major players in the global fishing industry, sending tuna, shrimp, and other seafood and seafood by-products to the U.S. and around the world. In both countries, workers in the industry face serious abuses and barriers to joining and forming unions.”

In its reports, the SWG called on the State Department to use the TIP Report and the ranking process to support these demands. While the 2023 TIP Report discounts labor rights in its rankings — the U.S. Government can and should support labor rights in the fishing and seafood processing industries in both countries in policymaking.

Taiwan has made insufficient efforts to remain at Tier 1

While the TIP Office has chosen not to advance the interests of labor in its assessment of Taiwan, the U.S. government should be using the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade to protect and enhance rights of workers, including migrant fishers, in Taiwan. As part of any successful trade initiative that addresses forced labor in global supply chains, the Taiwanese government should continue to improve its regulatory practices in advancing the rights of distant-water fishers — in particular, ensuring satellite internet access and fishers’ freedom of association rights on the high seas.

“Both the Taiwan and U.S. governments, who have committed to addressing forced labor as part of the worker-centric trade initiative, should treat access to Wi-Fi as a litmus test for meaningful progress on freedom of association and forced labor prevention for migrant fishers,” said Yi-Hsiang Shih, Secretary General of Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR).

Thailand falls short of minimum standards

The State Department should not have issued the government of Thailand a Tier 2 ranking, as Thai law still prohibits the approximately 4 million Southeast Asian migrant workers from forming or leading labor unions, in violation of fundamental labor standards. As part of its TIP 2022 Action Plan, the Government of Thailand committed in August 2022 to develop laws that would grant migrant workers the legal right to establish labor unions but it has failed to do so. The Labor Relations Act remains unreformed. This explicit discrimination in the law has silenced migrant workers and created huge power imbalances, both of which foster the conditions for forced labor.

“Due to exploitative recruitment practices, a majority of migrant fishers arrive in Thailand in debt bondage, where they do not have the ability to change employers, and have their passports and identity documents retained — clear violations of migrant workers’ rights and red flags for forced labor,” said Johnny Hansen, Chair of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Fisheries Section. “Fishers throughout Thailand are organizing to protect themselves after reporting not being paid properly, being forced to work uncompensated overtime, and working in unsafe conditions—but have been denied basic freedom of association and collective bargaining rights that could improve their situation. Thailand is failing to effectively enforce ILO Convention 188 that establishes minimum standards, and is rapidly backsliding into the abhorrent labor conditions in the seafood supply chain that preceded the EU yellow card in 2015,” Hansen said.

The Government of Thailand has also increased migrant workers’ vulnerability to forced labor by permitting SLAPP suits, which aim to silence workers and human rights defenders, to remain ongoing in the Thai judicial system.

The government has also continued to rely on short-term migration management policies that put migrant workers at greater risk of forced labor.

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Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ – ILRF) is a non-governmental organization that works transnationally to advance policies and laws that protect decent work; to strengthen freedom of association and workers’ ability to advocate for their rights; and to hold corporations accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains.

The Seafood Working Group (SWG) is a global coalition of human rights, labor, and environmental organizations that work together to develop and advocate for effective government policies and industry actions to end the related problems of labor exploitation, illegal fishing, and overfishing in the international seafood trade.

 

05 Sep

Posted at 01:22h in

TAIPEI – Earlier today, migrant fishers and key allies in the “Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights” campaign, which is led by the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI), Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Serve the People Association (SPA), and Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), met with the Premier of the Republic of China (ROC) or Taiwan, His Excellency Chen Chien-jen, to share fishers’ first-hand experiences working in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing fleet and to present their proposed solution to improve working conditions in their industry — mandatory Wi-Fi on board all 1,100 Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessels. 

Migrant fishers working in Taiwan’s distant-water fleet are calling for mandatory Wi-Fi on vessels to reduce forced labor risks and to ensure fishers can access fundamental labor rights without fear of retaliation. Every year, Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry exports roughly 1 billion USD of distant-water fishing products, including tuna and squid, to major global markets. Evidence-based reports show that forced labor is present on Taiwanese fishing vessels, and in 2022 the United States (US) government included fish from Taiwan in its “list of goods and their source countries which it has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards.”

“We stand at the crossroads of a pivotal moment in the lives of migrant distant-water fishers, who tirelessly work on Taiwanese vessels, contributing not only to the nation’s economy but also to the global seafood industry,” said Mudzakir Achmad, Chairman of Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI), which represents migrant fishers in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry. “We thank His Excellency Chen Chien-jen for his willingness to listen to us and we hope that he will support us in our petition for mandatory and regulated Wi-Fi access on all vessels. For us, Wi-Fi is not a luxury, but our only means while we are working at sea to connect to our families, to address issues in real-time, and to seek help when needed. It represents a lifeline for those who endure the hardships of distant-water fishing.”

At the meeting, migrant fishers and their allies delivered to His Excellency Chen Chien-jen a petition with over 13,000 signatures supporting the call for mandatory Wi-Fi, including from 1,000 migrant fishers themselves and from more than 10,000 online supporters. 

The “Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights” campaign is also seeking inclusion of mandatory Wi-Fi in the labor chapter of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, which is currently under negotiation. “Our appeal for mandatory, secure, and cost-free Wi-Fi access for fishers on every Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessel aligns with Taiwan’s own commitments to address forced labor risks in this industry and to comply with International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 188 on Work in Fishing,” said Valery Alzaga, Deputy Director of Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF). 

To guarantee that Wi-Fi is accessible for fishers and supports fishers’ labor rights, migrant fishers and their allies are calling for mandatory Wi-Fi to meet the following key criteria:

  1. Accessibility for all fishers on board; 
  2. Costs of Wi-Fi are not passed on to the fishers; 
  3. Data privacy protections to ensure the confidentiality of fishers’ communications and prevent retaliation;
  4. Reasonable and transparent rules for when and how fishers use it consistent with occupational safety and health for all workers; and
  5. A conflict resolution pathway agreed with vessel owners to remedy violations without retaliation.

The campaign has also called on corporations in or connected to Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry to participate in a roundtable with industry, labor, and government to discuss Wi-Fi implementation, leading towards a pilot program on several vessels that can inform implementation across Taiwan’s fleet. “Global seafood brands and retailers sourcing from Taiwan should join us to address abusive labor conditions for fishers in their supply chains. Otherwise, these corporations risk continued exposure to forced labor import bans and other similar legal consequences,” said Alzaga of GLJ-ILRF. 

Petition (English) – https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/wi_fi_on_board_loc/

Petition (Mandarin) – https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/ct/wi_fi_on_board_loc/

Petition (Indonesian) – https://avaaz.org/campaign/id/wifi_on_board_id/

Petition (Japanese) – https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/jp/wi_fi_on_board_asia_1/

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GLJ–ILRF is a non-profit public-interest organization dedicated to achieving dignity and justice for workers worldwide. GLJ-ILRF focuses on enforcing labor rights and promoting decent work conditions consistent with best practices and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards in the low-wage sections of global supply chains such as commercial fishing. GLJ-ILRF engages in research, policy work, advocacy, and education of the public and consumers.