 Organising globally to fight exploitation in Fisheries and Aquaculture The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2016.
Contributing to food security and nutrition for all International expert meeting on labour exploitation in the fishing sector in the Atlantic region IUF Home Page  Join our mailing list Join us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter | Norway: Stop union-busting at processed fish exporter Sekkingstad! 02-07-2018 Norway's Sekkingstad AS, a salmon and trout processor which exports to retail customers in over 50 countries, is trying to roll back a successful struggle by the Norwegian Food Workers Union NNN, which last year won recognition and a collective agreement at the company's processing sub-contractor following a 35-day strike. CLICK HERE to tell Sekikingstad to stop union-busting! [read more] International solidarity with Phillips Seafood Indonesia workers 15-03-2018 International union delegates to IUF meat and dairy division steering meetings in San Francisco, USA showed their support for the struggle for decent jobs at Phillips Seafood Indonesia with an informational picket at one of Phillips' principal US retail outlets, CostCo, on March 14. [read more] Launch of first-ever independent federation of food workers in Indonesia 14-02-2018 On February 2 and 3, sixteen independent unions came together in Yogyakarta to form the first ever independent union federation of food workers in Indonesia, FSBMM, a historic step in building independent and democratic union power in the food and beverage sectors in Indonesia. [read more] NNN strike ends with recognition and CBA at Norwegian fish processor Norse Production 16-10-2017 The strike launched by the Norwegian Foodworkers' Union NNN at fish processor Norse Production on September 8 ended on October 12 with the company signing the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the fish processing sector. With union recognition secured, the local union will now be able to negotiate additional improvements with local management within the framework of the sectoral agreement. [read more] NNN on strike for rights and recognition at fish processor Norse Production 25-09-2017  Workers - many of them migrants from Poland and Lithuania - have been on strike since September 8 at the fish processing company Norse Production near Bergen on the west coast of Norway. Organized in the IUF-affiliated Norwegian Food and Allied Workers Union (NNN), they are demanding the right to a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the company. [read more]  The Citra Mina Workers Union, with the support of their national center SENTRO and the IUF, is stepping up its push for the government to implement a regulation enforcing the rights of workers on fishing vessels which it has promulgated but never implemented.[read more] UFCW fighting US Bornstein Seafoods' attack on retirement 03-08-2017 The IUF-affiliated UFCW is in a tough fight on behalf of some 100 workers at the
Bornstein Seafoods processing plant in Bellingham, Washington in
response to the company's unilateral withdrawal from the
collectively-bargained pension fund last June. [read more] In a legal process lasting two decades, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has upheld a 2010 lower court ruling holding Citra Mina responsible for labour rights violations on outsourced fishing vessels [read more] Tasmanian salmon workers fight to defend their industry 19-07-2017 The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has commenced a campaign to support jobs in the salmon industry. The campaign is titled Tasmanian Salmon - Our Jobs, Our Future. [read more] US unionists return to Phillips Seafood restaurants in solidarity with Indonesian workers 19-07-2017  The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) returned to leaflet customers of US Phillips Seafood restaurants in support of IUF members at the Phillips Seafood processing plant in Lampung, Indonesia where the union is fighting for permanent jobs for workers who have been employed up to 15 years without a permanent contract. [read more] New actions in campaign against precarious work at Phillips Seafood plant in Indonesia 19-06-2017  On June 10 and 12 workers at the Phillips Seafood plant held actions coinciding with US management's planned visit to the Lampung factory to highlight their demand for direct, permanent employment at the facility where many have worked up to 15 years without a permanent contract. [read more] Indonesia: Phillips Seafood workers continue fighting for permanent employment 31-05-2017  Members of the IUF-affiliated SBPSI representing workers at the Phillips
Seafood plant in Lampung, Indonesia, held a mass demonstration in front
of the factory on May 24, with support from the Lampung Workers' Union
Federation. The union continues to fight for permanent positions for
over 100 workers, mostly women, many of whom have worked at the facility
for up to 15 years without a permanent employment contract. [read more] Philippines unions call on seafood industry employers to change course 11-05-2017 Representatives of the Citra Mina Workers Union and their national center SENTRO have called on the seafood industry employers' association SFFAII to take stock of the potential consequences of growing international concern over the industry's ongoing failure to respect international standards. [read more] US union solidarity with Phillips Seafood workers in Indonesia 10-05-2017 The IUF-affiliated UFCW leafleted customers at Phillips Seafood's flagship Baltimore restaurant on a busy May 9 evening in solidarity with the union fight for permanent jobs at the company's crabmeat factory in Lampung, Indonesia, where workers with up to 15 years of service are still denied permanent employment contracts. [read more] Members of the SENTRO Citra Mina Workers Union in the Philippines joined an international trade union delegation for talks with the European Union's Directorate General for Trade in Brussels on April 24 on systematic abuses by Citra Mina and the need for firm EU action to ensure respect for international human rights standards throughout the Philippines' massive tuna industry. [read more]  Over 500 workers in the Moroccan city of Agadir have been on strike since March 2015 at DOHA, part of the wealthy BICHA Group. DOHA workers, nearly 95% of whom are women, produce tinned fish and other products for worldwide export. The company has been pressured to drop the punitive financial claims against the union leader it has been pressing since the strike began - now it's time to reinstate the dismissed workers. CLICK HERE to send a message to the company.[read more] Philippines and Papua New Guinea tuna workers unite to tackle rights abuses 20-04-2017 Tuna workers in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea are organizing joint campaigns to tackle systematic human rights abuses by the world's largest manufacturers of canned tuna. [read more] BMI seafood workers in Indonesia fighting for rights, recognition and permanent jobs 10-04-2017 The union of workers at the Bumi Menara Internusa (BMI) seafood factory
continues its fight against abusive casual contracts and for access to
social security for all workers. BMI is one of the main Indonesian
suppliers to the global seafood industry, supplying most internationally
known seafood brands. [read more] Indonesia: Union continues to demand permanent jobs for Phillips Seafood workers 16-03-2017  The IUF-affiliated SBPSI continues to fight for permanent, secure jobs
at the Lampung, Indonesia crabmeat factory of US-based Phillips Seafood.
Under the company's brutal precarious work regime, where workers are
hired and fired by text message, workers with as many as 15 years of
service are still denied permanent employment contracts.[read more] 
A labor strike in the Citra Mina Group of Companies (CMGC), the second largest company in the Philippines tuna industry, which started in General Santos City on November 13, 2013, remains unresolved to this day. The sacking of those workers, who demand union recognition, is just the tip of the iceberg in the long story of massive violations of workers' rights permeating the whole tuna industry.
[read more]  Union activists from around the country travelled to Agadir on December 31, 2016 to show their support for the more than 500 workers dismissed by the DOHA fish canning company following a strike and lockout in 2015 and to denounce the court-ordered seizure of the union leader's apartment. [read more] Campaign in support of DOHA company workers in Morocco continues 18-12-2016 Despite of the on-going mass actions of protest and critical reaction of the international community, the Court of Appeal rejected Mr Abdellah's appeal to lift the precautionary confiscation of his apartment and instead supported the ruling of the Court of the First Instance for charges to be brought against him for causing the company financial losses. [read more] UILAPESCA leads debate on fish workers' rights at the conference in memory of Gaetano Pensabene 18-12-2016 The debate has ranged from the specific Sicilian fishing problems to the issue of illegal fishing and the respect of labour rights of fishermen in the world. [read more] Serial rights offender Citra Mina responsible for yet another death 15-12-2016 Continued rights abuses by the Citra Mina Group, the Philippine's second-largest tuna exporter, have resulted in another worker death. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO SERIAL RIGHTS ABUSER CITRA MINA! [read more] IUF European affiliates establish Seafood unions coordination group within EFFAT 19-10-2016 The founding meeting of EFFAT Seafood group was held in Brussels on November 15, 2016. [read more] Namibia seafood corporations wage a war against fish workers rights 17-10-2016 Refusal of the companies to negotiate have lead more than 4000 fishermen in the provinces of Walvis Bay and Luderitz to strike, protesting against 21-hour working shifts on the vessels, appalling living conditions and demanding recognition of the Metal, Mining, Maritime and Construction Workers' Union (MMMC), affiliated to the NANLO trade union center. [read more] Vigo dialogue on decent work in fisheries and aquaculture 05-10-2016 The third session of the FAO-sponsored Vigo dialogue which was held on October 4, 2016, brought together ILO sector department experts, fishing, processing and distribution companies - the seafood industry employers who participated in the Conxemar International Frozen Seafood Exhibition - and international trade union organizations (ITF, IUF, TUAC) to discuss the alarming human rights situation in the industry. [read more] Trapped at Sea: The fight against slavery in the fishing industry 01-10-2016 Along the way, FAO media team explore why trafficking and forced work remain so pervasive in the global fishing industry and what fishers stand to gain from a new collaboration between FAO and the International Labor Organization -- a partnership that joins the fight against human trafficking at sea with the fight against illegal fishing. [read more] Philippines tuna workers call upon industry to stop reckless, unsustainable fisheries 10-09-2016  The fight of the Citra Mina workers for reinstatement and recognition of their union became central in uniting workers of General Santos, the capital of the Philippines’ tuna industry, within the Tuna Workers" Solidarity initiative led by the trade union center SENTRO.[read more]  Members of the IUF Executive Committee supported the proposals of the sea food industry workers' unions to step up international organising efforts in the sector whose workers in the vast majority of the world's countries have no chance of creating unions and securing conditions that would facilitate their organisational development. [read more] Deceived by promises of a good job that will enable them to send money home, many workers are trapped at sea for months, even years, at a time and forced to work and live under dangerous, violent, and unthinkably atrocious conditions. [read more] In August 2016 the International Labour Organisation published the report of a tripartite meeting, convened on November 25-26, 2016, in Oslo to discuss ways to tackle labour exploitation in the fishing sector. The conference brought together experts from around the world - representatives of governments, employers' and workers' organisations, including experts on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and human trafficking. [read more] Significant progress at FAO COFI conference on illegal work and fishing 16-07-2016 UN FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) met in Rome on July 11-15, 2016. The IUF/ITF international trade union delegation intervened in the debate on the industry's sustainability, stressing the need for swift enforcement of the ILO Convention C 188 on work in fishing and the need to develop wider international labour and environmental standards for the entire global seafood value chain. [read more] FAO Report calls for the recognition of workers' right to organise 01-07-2016  2016 edition of the state of world fisheries and aquaculture report was issued by the UN's Food and agriculture organisation (FAO) in preparation for the bi-annual world-wide conference of the Committee on Fisheries. The report provides a comprehensive picture of the global seafood industry and covers specific issues which require attention of national governments and the United Nations.[read more] The National Guestworker Alliance (NGA) published a comprehensive report, highlighting the poor conditions faced by migrant workers employed by large US seafood corporations in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. The report describes massive use of forced labour, poor health and safety conditions, sexual harassment, and obstacles to forming or joining a union. [read more] Global unions call on EU for action to protect seafood industry workers 29-04-2016 Two global union federations representing millions of workers worldwide met with the European Union (EU) commission on fisheries this week to call for an expansion of legislation to protect fishers and workers employed in the production of seafood. The meeting coincided with the Brussels Seafood Expo Global, which brings together more than 2000 fish and aquaculture companies. [read more] International union action grows at Seafood Expo Global 28-04-2016  Unions took action at the annual Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium from April 26-28 to highlight the brutal practices which are widespread within the industry and to defend the rights of seafood industry workers. Seafood Expo Global is the largest international trading platform for fish and sea food. [read more] International solidarity organized through the IUF has secured comprehensive health insurance coverage for the union leaders and members unfairly dismissed by the Philippines tuna giant Citra Mina after they formed a union two-and-a-half years ago. [read more] US seafood industry: blind and deaf 15-03-2016 A whole number of corporations known to persecute their workers for their attempts to unionise came to Boston for the annual SeaFooodExpo on March 6-8, 2016 with the view of signing contracts to sell their produce on the North American market. [read more] Tuna workers organize to restrain reckless tuna companies in the Asia-Pacific 14-03-2016  Workers across the tuna industry are escalating the campaign to make sustainable jobs and respect for human rights an integral part of a sustainable fisheries industry. At the March 11 launch of Tuna Workers Solidarity in General Santos, the tuna capital of the Philippines, workers and their families condemned human rights violations, forced labour and trafficking, insecure employment in tuna factories and tuna companies' refusal to take responsibility for fishing vessel workers lost at sea or abandoned in other countries. Morocco: DOHA workers continue campaign to support Abdullah Rakhmoun, demand jobs and union rights 02-03-2016  Workers of the DOHA canned fish factory in Agadir, Morocco, continue with their regular actions demanding that their union leadership be cleared of all charges and the court order imposing an incongruously large fine on the union's president Abdullah Rakhmoun be reversed. They also demand reinstatement for dismissed activists and recognition of their union, which belongs to the national center CDT.[read more] Vicious union-busting at Moroccan fish canner DOHA 05-02-2016  Over 500 workers in the Moroccan city of Agadir have been on strike since March 2015 at DOHA, part of the wealthy BICHA Group. DOHA workers, nearly 95% of whom are women, produce tinned fish and other products for worldwide export. The company, with the help of compliant legal and political authorities, has sought to dissolve the union, dismiss its members, criminalize and punish the strikers and confiscate the union leaders' home. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO DOHA![read more] International seafood workers meeting calls for mobilisation to eliminate abusive labour policies 01-01-2016
FSBL and IUF stop illegal union verification by Phillips Seafood 17-12-2015  US-based company Phillips Seafood has reacted to the international campaign calling for the reinstatement of unfairly terminated workers and union recognition by introducing a new product in their factory in Lampung, Indonesia: a management-manufactured union. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PHILLIPS SEAFOOD![read more] Two years after mass terminations, Citra Mina workers determined to struggle for their rights 16-11-2015  Two years ago the Citra Mina Group of Companies, among the largest tuna exporters in General Santos, the Philippines, terminated 234 workers for exercising their human right to form a trade union. In the 24 months since the unfair termination of union leaders and members, the campaign for "Worker Safe" tuna has seen the struggle for reinstatement become a struggle for the future of the tuna industry itself. [read more]
“Lampung Needs Sustainable Fisheries, Sustainable Jobs!” 03-11-2015 On October 30th, Federasi Serikat Buruh Lampung (FSBL) led 130 women workers of Phillips Seafood wearing “Worker Safe” bandana in a protest rally to show their disappointment to the one of the biggest seafood companies. [read more] Rescued Citra Mina fishing workers launch union-owned 'Worker Safe' training boats 10-08-2015
[read more] Global pressure on Citra Mina widens 09-06-2015 One of Japan's major seafood companies which imports tuna from General Santos, Philippines, has initiated an investigation into human rights violations by the Citra Mina Group, the Philippines' second-largest tuna exporter. This announcement comes as preparations advance for a visit by a trade delegation from the European Commission charged with looking into the country's compliance with the EU's GSP Plus trade program following international union action earlier this year. [read more] Phillips Seafood - 'sustainable' fisheries, disposable jobs 29-05-2015  Phillips Seafood Restaurants is one of the oldest and largest seafood restaurant chains in the United States. The associated Phillips Foods, the world's largest processor of crabmeat which also produces a full line of fish products, relies on 17 overseas plants, because US stocks are exhausted due to overfishing and pollution. So the company claims to be promoting sustainable fisheries. In fact it relies on disposable jobs - but Indonesian workers are fighting back and winning support for their struggle. [read more] [More] |
Almost every day, the media expose new facts about slavery and other unacceptable labour practices in the seafood sector. Thousands of workers are engaged in their daily fight for a change, calling for help, and this call can no longer be ignored. Urgent measures must be taken by the employers, governments and relevant UN structures to rectify the situation, reduce criminality, and create opportunities for the workers to implement their fundamental right to improve their own working and living conditions. 
Phillips Seafood, a US company with a chain of seafood restaurants on the East Coast which also has outlets in airports and casinos and markets processed seafood products, relies on brutal exploitation and disposable jobs for their Indonesian crabmeat. Most of the production workers at the Phillips Seafood crabmeat factory in Lampung, Indonesia are women; 60 percent of these workers have no permanent jobs. They're on permanent standby, and never know when or if they will be called to work by text message. 
Five months after internationally coordinated action by IUF and SENTRO secured the release and repatriation of 43 fishing crew detained in Indonesia and