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COVID-19 Impact on Migrant Workers in Thailand

The partial lockdown of Bangkok and order by the Thai Interior Ministry to close 18 border points taking effect on March 23 triggered a mass exodus of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, with estimates ranging between 60,000 and 200,000 people having left the country.  Few were able to practice social distancing in the crowded bus stations and border areas, raising fears of infection.

Fyffes’ Claims of Farm Safety in Honduras Should Not be Taken as Accurate

In the ongoing controversy about violations of labor rights and worker health and safety at its suppliers in Honduras, the multinational Fyffes fruit company has told The Progressive magazine “our farms have passed SMETA audits for safety, health, and worker wellbeing.”

This claim by Fyffes should not, and cannot, be taken as good coin, true and accurate. 

Sedex, the London-based consulting company that runs the SMETA program, states very clearly in the “FAQs” on its website the following:

Honduran Union Leader Threatened with Imprisonment

A union leader whom we work with in Honduras could be imprisoned for 30 years on bogus charges, pending a decision at a trial next Wednesday. Moises Sanchez is the Secretary General of the STAS union on Fyffes' melon farms in Honduras, where he worked from 1993 until 2016, when he was blacklisted for his union activity. In 2017, Moises was kidnapped, viciously attacked and threatened with death if he did not abandon the union fight.

Now he is facing spurious charges from a landowner – who also leases to Fyffes – after being part of a group of 450 community members who voted to build a road in their community, which the mayor supported and said was on public land.

U.S. TIP Report 2019: A missed opportunity for Freedom of Association in Thailand?

The 2019 U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report was released last week. Rightly so, Thailand remained at its previous ranking of Tier 2. This ranking is reserved for countries that do not meet the minimum standards to address human trafficking but are making efforts to do so. Maintaining the Tier 2 status is consistent with the Thai Seafood Working Group’s recommendation, yet the U.S. government missed an opportunity to focus Thai authorities and businesses on the structural changes needed to prevent labor trafficking in the country.

Our Own Best Defense: How Unions Can Stop GBV at Work

Even with every effort being made to prevent gender-based violence at work, it’s not possible to eliminate it entirely in a world that prioritizes the desires of men over the safety of women and people of other/no genders. As the International Labour Organization prepares to adopt a Convention on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, it is paramount that it identify that unions and collective bargaining are critical to preventing gender-based violence. Whether it be global, national or local labor unions, worker centers, or any organizations that genuinely represent the interests of workers, labor must be an integral creator and implementer of any programs to address violence and harassment.

A Worker By Any Other Name

No category of worker is immune to gender-based violence at work. Interns, trainees, and contractors hired through a temp agency are at no less risk of harassment and abuse than workers who have signed regular employment contracts. Precarious workers – those who frequently fill permanent job needs but are denied permanent employee rights – are at a higher risk of gender-based violence, since the employer may not renew their short-term contract if they exercise their rights, especially those related to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

In the Drivers’ Seat: Why the ILO Should Care about the Commute

Hold your keys in your hand. Stick to that street, not this one, it has more lights. Don’t go down that block, whatever you do – there’s a group of gamblers on the corner ready to scream drunkenly at you as you pass by.

It’s a dance every woman around the world is familiar with: minimizing your risk and exposure, keeping yourself safe, while trying to get from point A to point B. For garment workers in Cambodia, that dance takes place nearly every night. So much so that the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), keeps a crowdsourced map up on the wall. Workers who come through the center for trainings and meetings add to the map. They draw arrows down the safest paths, and mark hazards with orange dots.

CSR helps hide workers’ rights abuse until brands can quietly exit

Corporations have been selling ‘ethical’ products and services to consumers for over three decades. Many of these efforts have been organised under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR), with proponents advocating this as a means to secure workers’ rights. Despite their well-documented limitations and brands acknowledging the need for improvements, most CSR initiatives continue to resist the structural changes needed. They instead prefer to tinker around the edges of a failed model.

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