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Seafood Labor Activists Blast US for Thailand, Taiwan Rankings in TIP Report That Give a Pass to Widespread Worker Abuses

The Groups Say Thailand Should Have Remained on Tier 2 Watchlist and Taiwan Downgraded to Tier 2
07/19/22

Washington D.C. – Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) and allies in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) today said the U.S. government has given a pass to Thailand and Taiwan on widespread abuses in the countries’ fishing and seafood processing sectors by upgrading them in its latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. 

องค์กรแรงงานต่างๆเรียกร้องให้ไทยดำเนินการตามสัญญาที่จะยุติการใช้แรงงานบังคับในเรือนจำ

06/29/22

สำหรับเผยแพร่ทันที

Ahead of TIP Report, Labor Rights Activists Call on US to Urge Thailand and Taiwan to Stop Forced Labor and Trafficking in Seafood Industry

Seafood Working Group Recommend U.S. Downgrade Taiwan to ‘Tier 2’ and Keep Thailand on ‘Tier 2 Watchlist’
Fishing workers, Taiwan. Photo courtesy Rerum Novarum.
04/07/22

BANGKOK, Thailand – Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) and allies in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) today announced their findings of labor rights violations, forced labor, and human trafficking of migrant workers in

Landmark Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Eastman Exports Natchi Apparels with the Support of Global Allies

Justice for Jeyasre Victory
04/01/22

Tirupur, India (April 1, 2022) – Today Eastman Exports Global Clothing Private Limited, the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, and Global Labor Justice- International Labor Rights Forum, along with H&M Group (H&M), jointly announce the groundbreaking Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH), in the first year reaching 5,000 mostly female wor

Statement from organizations in the Seafood Working Group on Thai Government announcement that it will ban the practice of using forced prison labor to make fishing nets:

03/03/22

“Following a petition our international coalition submitted to the Biden Administration on February 11, alongside media pressure, the Thai government says it will end the use of forced labor in prisons. The petition called on the U.S.

องค์กรต่าง ๆ เรียกร้องให้รัฐบาลสหรัฐ ฯ ระงับการนำเข้าแหอวนจากบริษัทไทย เนื่องจากหลักฐานบ่งชี้ถึงการบังคับใช้แรงงานในเรือนจำ

Thai man making fishing net - photo by Shutterstock
02/22/22

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Organizations urge U.S. to block imports of fishing nets from Thai companies over evidence of forced prison labor

Thai man making fishing net - photo by Shutterstock
02/22/22

WASHINGTON – Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) and partner organizations in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) are calling on the Biden Administration to ensure U.S. companies do not import fishing nets made by Thai companies that use forced prison labor. 

Thailand Downgraded in U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report Due to Failure to Address Forced Labor of Migrant Workers

07/02/21

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Department of State released its 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on Thursday, downgrading Thailand to Tier 2 Watch List. The report found the Thai government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to address trafficking compared to the previous year nor has it effectively addressed the forced labor of migrant workers. Numerous reports and investigations have implicated Thailand in labor abuses and trafficking of migrant workers, particularly in the fishing, seafood and garment sectors.

GLJ-ILRF Stands in Solidarity With New Jersey Workers Who Exposed Forced Labor and are Demanding Transnational Labor Justice Across the BAPS Global Supply Chain

05/12/21

Robbinsville, New Jersey —  Yesterday, caste-oppressed workers in New Jersey came forward to demand changes in the BAPS global supply chain of temple construction which was revealed to rely on forced labor.  

Seafood Working Group Recommends that Taiwan be Downgraded in State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report

04/01/21

The Seafood Working Group (SWG) has submitted its recommendation that Taiwan be downgraded to a Tier 2 Ranking in the U.S. Department of State’s 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The recommendation is based on SWG’s research and analysis that determined Taiwan is yet to meet the minimum standards set forth in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. The group’s submission also includes steps the Taiwan government can take to end forced labor and human trafficking in its distant water fisheries (DWF).

Seafood Working Group Urges the U.S. to Downgrade Thailand’s Ranking in the 2021 Trafficking Report due to a Deterioration of Worker Rights Stemming from COVID-19 Policies

04/01/21

Thailand should be downgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List ranking in the U.S. Department of State’s 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report, recommends the Seafood Working Group (SWG) – a global labor rights advocacy coalition. This is necessary due to the continuation of violations of internationally recognized labor rights that make migrants particularly vulnerable to human trafficking as well as a deterioration of rights for vulnerable workers stemming from COVID-19 policies.

GLJ-ILRF Joins Cotton Campaign’s Call to End Intimidation of Uzbekistan’s First Independent Labor Union

03/25/21

Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) stands in solidarity with union activists in Uzbekistan organizing the country’s first independent, democratically elected union and joins the Cotton Campaign’s calls on the Uzbek government to end the intimidation of union activists from local officials. Workers from the Indorama cotton plantations founded “Xalq Birligi” (Peoples’ Unity) in response to low wages and deteriorating working conditions in the transnational company, Indorama.

Rights Groups, Unions and Companies Urge EU to Make Labor Rights a Precondition of Resuming Thai Trade Negotiations

10/28/20

(Bangkok, October 28, 2020) – A group of 45 organizations composed of NGOs, trade unions, companies, and multi-stakeholder initiatives sent a letter today to Valdis Dombrovkis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, urging the European Union to require labor reform in Thailand as a precondition to the resumption of trade negotiations with the Government of Thailand.   

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