Indonesian migrant fishers launch campaign for workers' rights

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) Indonesian migrant fishers on Sunday launched the "Freedom for Fishers Campaign" at Donggang Fishing Harbor in Pingtung County, alongside celebrations marking Indonesia's 81st Independence Day on Aug. 17.

After attendees sang the Indonesian national anthem, the Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia-Pingtung County Migrant Fishers Union (FOPSI-PMFU) announced the campaign's demands, including fair wages and employment contracts and guaranteed access to Wi-Fi on all vessels.

They also appealed for the right to organize and join a union free from intimidation and retaliation, a transparent and fair grievance mechanism, and healthy and safe working conditions.

In a speech, FOPSI-PMFU Chairman Rojani told the nearly 100 attendees that Indonesia's Independence Day is a day of pride and solidarity for Indonesians.

For migrant fishers, however, independence means more than being able to raise their national flag. It also means being able to live and work with dignity, speak without fear, and be free from forced labor, exploitation, intimidation and retaliation, he said.

Taiwan's government has repeatedly insisted that many of these issues have been addressed and improved, but the United States Department of Labor put Taiwan on its biennial "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor" in 2021 and is still on the list today.

FOPSI-PMFU Secretary-General Achmad Mudzakir told CNA on Sunday that the abuses continue, with the union recently receiving a report from a fisher who said he had been subjected to violence while working on a distant-water fishing vessel.

After the union reported the incident to the Fisheries Agency, however, the broker and employer fired and repatriated the fisher after learning of the complaint, without allowing time for reporting and response procedures to be completed, Mudzakir said.

Regarding infrastructure at Donggang harbor, Mudzakir said there were only two bathrooms on shore, each with about five stalls, for some 4,500 fishers working aboard offshore and distant-water fishing vessels in the area, which he said was far from sufficient.

He also called for Wi-Fi hotspots to be installed in the harbor so fishers aboard distant-water vessels can access the internet when they return to shore.

Through the campaign, the union hopes to reach a binding and implementable agreement with companies in the international seafood supply chain to better protect the rights of migrant fishers.

Migrant fishers are at the bottom of the supply chain, the union said, but meaningful change can only take place when companies and brands at the top of the supply chain take appropriate responsibility.