Joint report urges mechanisms to ensure rights of workers in seafood industry
THE INTERNATIONAL Labour Rights Forum (ILRF) and the Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) have issued a joint report encouraging companies at all levels in the seafood supply chain to establish mechanisms that ensure workers the ability to exercise their
The report documents the achievements that can be made in improving working conditions in seafood-processing facilities if workers are able to negotiate directly with employers to resolve problems.
“The only way to stop human-rights abuses common throughout the seafood sector is for Western companies to take responsibility for their supply chains,” said Judy Gearhart, ILRF executive director.
“It is time for seafood companies to cut a new path in corporate accountability towards programmes based on binding standards, transparent reporting, and engagement with trade unions to ensure workers’ rights are protected throughout their supply chains.”
Intervention case studies
The report documents eight case studies in which the MWRN intervened on behalf of workers to obtain compensation for unpaid wages, ensure workers had access to identity documents, reduce the upfront costs to workers of finding employment and hold employers legally accountable for illegal labour practices, among other things.
It also documents the challenges of this approach in the context of Thailand’s current governance and industry. “Migrant workers often lack accessible channels to voice complaints and have limited ability and confidence to negotiate better working terms,” said MWRN president Sein Htay. “MWRN is working to change this in Thailand and ensure workers have genuine representation in negotiating with employers.”
The report recommends that companies prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees and confiscation of worker documents in their own facilities or among their suppliers, respect the right to organise freely and collectively bargain, establish accessible worker-based grievance mechanisms and make transparent the chains of suppliers that take a product from production to final sale.
