Ship to Shore Rights – Combatting Unacceptable Forms of Work in the Thai Fishing and Seafood Industry
European Commission
(
Intergovernmental organization
)
#SDGAction33573
Description
Reports triggered increased awareness of the serious human and labour rights abuses of the Thai fishing and seafood processing sectors. They are characterised by extremely poor working conditions in terms of earnings, social protection, physical injury, psychological and sexual abuses, and deaths. The work on the fishing vessel is hazardous, an isolated workplace with long working hours and poor wages. The working conditions of men, women, children, and many migrants, were classified as unacceptable forms of work. To respond to this situation, the project aimed to reduce forced labour, child labour and other unacceptable forms of work, and improve compliance with fundamental rights at work.
The project aimed to strengthen the legal and policy framework and its application through a combination of measures including improved labour inspection, voluntary multi-stakeholder compliance initiatives, and the empowerment of workers and civil society to hold industry and government accountable. The project used the Good Labour Practices Programme (GLP) a fisheries industry improvement programme that combines the establishment of industry labour guidelines with a supportive good labour practices training programme. Special attention is given to addressing unacceptable forms of work, such as child labour and forced labour. The project supported the development and enforcement of the regulatory framework. This was complemented by voluntary compliance initiatives developed through a broader partnership of different stakeholders, fostering positive learning and practice, dispute resolution. Subcontracting to civil society organisations and trade unions was a strong component to hold the Government and industry accountable to the standards in the law and in the voluntary initiatives; it also provided much-needed services and assistance such as education and training to victims. The various components were inter-linked and mutually reinforcing. The outputs and the information generated from one have directly influenced interventions in another. During the initial project start-up phase, research were undertaken to better inform geographically targeted interventions including a mapping of civil society organizations and their capacities, and services available or to be developed. A project steering committee provided overall strategic guidance, assessed and adapted activities, analysed the conclusions and recommendations of the external evaluations.
Ratifications of ILO Work in Fishing Convention 188 and Protocol 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention (P029). Deployment of 180 newly trained labour inspectors, rolling out of the GLP programmes by seafood-processing associations, and strengthening of workers’ voice and representation. More migrant workers entering the workforce through regular channels, and salary increases of 28% for fishers and 15% for seafood workers. Improvements in housing conditions and a perception among workers that change is moving in the right direction. Like the initial baseline survey, the endline survey used a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative methods, with face-to-face surveys of 219 workers in fishing vessels and 251 workers in larger seafood processing plants in 11 provinces as they represent the vast majority of workers in the supply chain and have been the focus of reforms in the industry. It recommended expanding it to South-East Asian countries having export-focused of these sectors.
Forced labour and unacceptable working conditions attracted attention from global media, traders, buyers and unions. The EU and the US helped the Government adopt reforms to improve fisheries management and reduce unacceptable forms of work. To measure the project results, survey data from interviewed workers was collected using tablets into secure statistical analysis software. Triangulated analysis ensured the result validity. New areas to explore: Legal frameworks applicable for homeworkers in the Thai seafood industry. Identifying changes in the seafood sourcing practices and price and how they support efforts to improve working conditions.
The 2019 independent project evaluation recommended expanding projects like Ship to Shore Rights to South-East Asian countries that have export-focused fishing and seafood sectors – chiefly, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The new Ship to Shore Rights SEA 4-year project started in 2020. It will build on Thailand’s achievements. It aims to promote regular and safe labour migration and decent work for all migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors in South East Asia. The collaboration with IOM and UNDP will also enable the programme to draw the UN’s collective experience in combatting human trafficking, improving recruitment practices, and ensuring access to information. In addition to Thailand, the programme will deepen engagement with: • Cambodia • Indonesia • Lao PDR • Myanmar • Philippines • Viet Nam • Other countries and organizations in South East Asia It will mainly contribute to SDG 8, SDG 10 and significantly to SDG 5, 12, 16.
While there is no direct COVID-19 impact, the project contributes to strengthening resilience of vulnerable persons and communities, by improving working conditions of many local and migrant workers and removing forced labour and other forms of exploitation, which is essential for a sustainable inclusive recovery.
Project ILO webpage: https://shiptoshorerights.org/ INTPA web article: https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/stories/ship-shore-righ… Video: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/multimedia/video/institutional… End line research report findings on fishers and seafood workers in Thailand: https://shiptoshorerights.org/wp-content/uploads/Endline-Research-Findi… The EU yellow card warning was lifted in January 2019: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_19_61
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Government departments of Labour Protection, Welfare and Employment Fisheries Social Development and Human Security, workers’ organizations, industry actors, civil society organisations and buyers/retailers groups. Beneficiaires: Women, men and children working in the fishing and seafood sectors and their family.
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