Experts urge better labor rights protections ahead of Taiwan-U.S. talks

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) A group of local and international labor rights experts on Sunday called on Taiwan's government to seize the opportunity to enhance labor rights protections, especially for migrant workers, as a new round of trade talks with the United States is set to begin next week.

Both Taipei and Washington on Friday announced that a new round of in-person negotiations over the 21st Century Trade Initiative will take place from Monday to May 3 in Taipei.

The talks will focus on bilateral cooperation in fields such as labor, environmental protection and agriculture, both governments said.

Speaking in a Taipei seminar on how the talks of a trade deal with the U.S. could boost Taiwan's labor rights and standards, Allison Gill, the legal director of the Global Labor Justice, said the negations would provide a great opportunity to "boost its international reputation and guarantee the labor rights for all fishers and its distant water fishing industry."

Though Gill recognized Taipei's step to better protect laborers, including updating its fisheries and human rights action plans, she noted that since 2019, the U.S. government has repeatedly identified Taiwan's distant water fishing industry of having a high risk of forced labor.

Fish caught by Taiwanese fishermen is currently listed in the U.S. Department of Labor's list of goods produced with child and forced labor. The U.S. State Department's 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report also describes Taiwan's distant water fishing sector as being highly vulnerable to forced labor over the past six months.

Her organization did its own research and interviews with migrant fishermen serving at the Taiwan-flag vessels, Gill said.

"Overall, what we found is rather than being an isolated problem caused by a few bad actors, slavery is in fact a widespread problem in the fishing industry, fueled by structural drivers, these require a structural solution," she said.

Though these exposures create a moment of risk for Taiwan's seafood industry, it would also create a real opportunity for Taiwan's government and industry to "implement best practices to protect labor rights and demonstrate their global leadership," said the American expert, who participated in the Taipei seminar remotely.

One of the key issues Gill and her organization has proposed is to include Wi-Fi access to all crew on board Taiwanese distant water fishing vessels as part of the 21st Century Trade Initiative.

Gill said Wi-Fi access is important because it could enable migrant fishers to "exercise their fundamental freedom of association."

"Wi-Fi allows fishers to contact their labor unions, their advocacy organizations, their families, government agencies, and hotlines. It is the only means when they are at sea for them truly to be able to associate with each other," she said.

"Now is the right time for Taiwan to play a leading role in the global seafood industry by agreeing to mandate Wi-Fi access for all crew on board its distant water fishing vessels as part of the 21st Century Trade Initiative agreement," she concluded.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese labor activist Catta Chou (周于萱) said in Sunday's seminar that the trade talks would provide a chance for Taiwan to catch up with international laws and standards concerning labor rights.

Aside from including labor protection provisions, Chou, the deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Federation of Financial Unions, said local environmental groups also wanted to add clauses on environmental issues too.

Sunday's seminar was organized by the Taiwan-U.S. Trade Citizen Watch Alliance that consisted of dozens of local labor rights, environmental and business groups.

The the 21st Century Trade Initiative was launched in 2022 under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. on behalf of both governments.

In June 2023, the two sides signed the first pact under the initiative, agreeing on customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, domestic regulation of services, anticorruption, and matters relating to small and medium-sized enterprises.

After holding in-person negotiations last August, the two sides are currently working toward a second agreement.