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Labor rights group: Thai abuses go on in certified, audited factories
Neil Ramsden
October 15, 2015
Credit: Environmental Justice Foundation
The Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) and activist Andy Hall have warned that too little in Thailand has changed so far regarding labor abuse, though Thai Union Group and Charoen Pokphand Foods were singled out as notable exceptions to this.
"Day in and day out MWRN, together with supporting/funding organisations, conduct migrant worker based research on conditions usually in the largest and most organised parts of the food export sector ( poorest conditions are often in supply chains of these larger export factories such as on boats, farms or primary processing facilities)," said Hall in a statement sent to Undercurrent News, as well as seafood traders and international government contacts.
"With notable exceptions from companies making significant effort and certainly moving forward at present, to cite CP and TUF as two positive examples, MWRN find the same migrant worker challenges ongoing in other factories."
The challenges found in most factories these days particularly concern systematic migrant worker rights abuses in the form of abusive broker practices (both in terms of unethical recruitment and document renewal/application costs), unlawful deductions from salaries, confiscation of worker documents and physical or psychologically abusive supervisors or management behaviour, he went on.
Signs of forced labour and debt bondage remain far too prevalent. Poor accommodation standards are another key issue workers face at factories located away from population centers, when accommodation is as of necessity provided by employers.
Perhaps most worryingly, MWRN continues to see these abuses occurring systematically in factories that have been certified by numerous international standards bodies; passed industry audits; and signed up for and completed activities under the Phase 1 GLP [Good Labor Practices] Program, said Hall.
"Employers already are aware of the Thai and international standards that should be applied in their workplaces - whilst workers are not. But enforcement and self-regulation by industry continues to be fundamentally lacking."
Overall, MWRN considers Phase 1 to so far have been "relatively ineffective in significantly improving" workers' conditions.
Across Thailand's labour intensive food export industry, and particularly in seafood sectors, MWRN sees non-inclusive workplace dialogue between workers and employers -- and almost non existent organisation of workers into effective working worker welfare/employee committees or unions -- as a key reason why migrant workers are not able to collectively remedy the existing poor situations they face in their workplaces in a sustainable manner themselves.
"With the notable exception of the TTIA [Thai Tuna Industry Association], whose complaint mechanisms have proved increasingly open and transparent to respond to MWRN's reports of remaining abuses in their 18 member facilities (although not without challenges, and ongoing work still needs to be done between TTIA and MWRN), the TFPC [Thai Fishery Producers Coalition], TFFA [Thai Frozen Food Association] and TFPA [Thai Food Processors Association] continue not to respond adequately to MWRN's complaints regarding worker conditions in their members facilities."
"Often these associations continue not to even formally respond at all to written complaints submitted by email to them, or leave it to the member companies who are alleged to have committed abuses to remedy the problems themselves without independent industry oversight."
Phase two on the way
If the Thai industry and ILO, with support of the EU, continues to develop large scale programs to address migrant worker abuses in Thailand's export sector without meaningful consultation with migrant workers and their representatives, MWRN are concerned any new program will develop again along the same lines as Phase 1 of the GLP program, that focused on employer awareness raising on standards and related training programs and government enforcement.
"We are concerned this program will crucially be one that fails to raise workers awareness of their rights, support workers to meaningfully organise with increased confidence, and there will continue to be no genuine, transparent and accessible complaint or enforcement mechanisms developed for the future. Without the latter features, these large scale programs will not, in our opinion, be successful nor sustainable in bringing positive change."
undercurrentnews.com
Neil Ramsden
October 15, 2015
Credit: Environmental Justice Foundation
The Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) and activist Andy Hall have warned that too little in Thailand has changed so far regarding labor abuse, though Thai Union Group and Charoen Pokphand Foods were singled out as notable exceptions to this.
"Day in and day out MWRN, together with supporting/funding organisations, conduct migrant worker based research on conditions usually in the largest and most organised parts of the food export sector ( poorest conditions are often in supply chains of these larger export factories such as on boats, farms or primary processing facilities)," said Hall in a statement sent to Undercurrent News, as well as seafood traders and international government contacts.
"With notable exceptions from companies making significant effort and certainly moving forward at present, to cite CP and TUF as two positive examples, MWRN find the same migrant worker challenges ongoing in other factories."
The challenges found in most factories these days particularly concern systematic migrant worker rights abuses in the form of abusive broker practices (both in terms of unethical recruitment and document renewal/application costs), unlawful deductions from salaries, confiscation of worker documents and physical or psychologically abusive supervisors or management behaviour, he went on.
Signs of forced labour and debt bondage remain far too prevalent. Poor accommodation standards are another key issue workers face at factories located away from population centers, when accommodation is as of necessity provided by employers.
Perhaps most worryingly, MWRN continues to see these abuses occurring systematically in factories that have been certified by numerous international standards bodies; passed industry audits; and signed up for and completed activities under the Phase 1 GLP [Good Labor Practices] Program, said Hall.
"Employers already are aware of the Thai and international standards that should be applied in their workplaces - whilst workers are not. But enforcement and self-regulation by industry continues to be fundamentally lacking."
Overall, MWRN considers Phase 1 to so far have been "relatively ineffective in significantly improving" workers' conditions.
Across Thailand's labour intensive food export industry, and particularly in seafood sectors, MWRN sees non-inclusive workplace dialogue between workers and employers -- and almost non existent organisation of workers into effective working worker welfare/employee committees or unions -- as a key reason why migrant workers are not able to collectively remedy the existing poor situations they face in their workplaces in a sustainable manner themselves.
"With the notable exception of the TTIA [Thai Tuna Industry Association], whose complaint mechanisms have proved increasingly open and transparent to respond to MWRN's reports of remaining abuses in their 18 member facilities (although not without challenges, and ongoing work still needs to be done between TTIA and MWRN), the TFPC [Thai Fishery Producers Coalition], TFFA [Thai Frozen Food Association] and TFPA [Thai Food Processors Association] continue not to respond adequately to MWRN's complaints regarding worker conditions in their members facilities."
"Often these associations continue not to even formally respond at all to written complaints submitted by email to them, or leave it to the member companies who are alleged to have committed abuses to remedy the problems themselves without independent industry oversight."
Phase two on the way
If the Thai industry and ILO, with support of the EU, continues to develop large scale programs to address migrant worker abuses in Thailand's export sector without meaningful consultation with migrant workers and their representatives, MWRN are concerned any new program will develop again along the same lines as Phase 1 of the GLP program, that focused on employer awareness raising on standards and related training programs and government enforcement.
"We are concerned this program will crucially be one that fails to raise workers awareness of their rights, support workers to meaningfully organise with increased confidence, and there will continue to be no genuine, transparent and accessible complaint or enforcement mechanisms developed for the future. Without the latter features, these large scale programs will not, in our opinion, be successful nor sustainable in bringing positive change."
undercurrentnews.com
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