Report: Problems remain at the factories packing tuna products for the European supermarkets

Abstract

INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 28 Volume 22 Issue 2 2015 workers who bring forth complaints and worries will be dismissed, or retaliated against in some other manner. According to the factory the workers may freely take up candidacy and participate in the operations of the Committee, and they are encouraged to share their views and opinions openly. The factory emphasises that its policy is in no way to punish workers who identify problems. The factories included into the report Thai Union Manufacturing and Unicord are part of Thai Union Group and the Sea Value Group and produce private label products for the supermarkets in Belgium, the UK, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and Slovenia. The report encourages the European buyers to work more closely together to ensure better working conditions. Through audits alone it is difficult to achieve the necessary changes. Finding solutions to the remaining problems regarding discrimination, recruitment, and workers weak bargaining power requires genuine cooperation and dialogue between the industry representatives, buyers, and local workers organisations. Thai factories have improved working conditions under international scrutiny but problems still remain T hai factories in the international spotlight that produce tuna for the European markets have improved working conditions, according to the new follow-up report published by Finnwatch. Report is part of the Supply Change project. The passports of migrant workers are no longer confiscated and they have written employment contracts; work safety has increased and social security improved. But there are still problems: patterns of work place discrimination are reported and some of the migrant workers say that they have to pay high recruitment fees. To overcome the remaining problems cooperation is needed between the factories, retailers that purchase produce from them, and organisations that genuinely represent the migrant workers. Migrant workers still find it difficult to get their voices heard. The complaint mechanisms and workers committees at the factories are not functioning as they should. Workers still cannot negotiate working conditions with their employer. The most significant shortcoming that was found during the follow-up research concerns recruitment fees for migrant workers who enter Thailand from Myanmar through the official MoU process. These workers have to pay hundreds of euros in various fees in order to take up employment at the Unicord factories, which are part of the Sea Value Group. The leading tuna factories and the tuna industry in Thailand must ban the collection of recruitment fees from migrant workers . European buyers must also include such a ban to their social responsibility requirements. The European Union has taken steps to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Thailand. The problem is closely linked to the working conditions at fishing boats where there has been incidents of forced labour and trafficking in persons. The new report notes that the monitoring of the supply chain of the factories is still in its infancy. The factories look to the Thai government to introduce changes to the legislation or are just about to start their own monitoring. According to the workers, there is a Worker Committee operating at the Unicord 2 factory in Mahachai, whose members are elected by vote. However, the workers say that the candidates for the Committee elections are chosen by supervisors and therefore the workers feel that the elections are meaningless. Even if the candidacy was open to all, the workers see that participation would be too risky for individual workers. The interviewees were concerned that Problems remain at the factories packing tuna products for the European supermarkets REPORT ❐ FOOD SECTOR WORKERS, THAILAND SONJA VARTIALA is Executive Director of Finnwatch in Helsinki Improvements at Tuna Fish Factories in Thailand is published by Finnwatch www.finnwatch.org ...