Wi-Fi Now for Fishers' Rights!

Visit bit.ly/wifinowforfishers now to add your voice in support of migrant workers at sea!

by Caroline Ognibene, Mass JWJ Office Administrator

 

Can you imagine a month without communicating with family and friends? What about six months? A year? 

 

Spending several months at a time on high seas, migrant fishing workers face unsafe and exploitative working conditions, including forced labor, physical and verbal abuse, salary withholding, and poor sanitation standards. Without mandated access to Wi-Fi, it’s impossible to report these issues or seek support. Workers are also unable to communicate with their families, meaning they can spend up to a year without the comfort and security of connecting with loved ones.  

“Conditions are very tough on the high seas. We need Wi-Fi to communicate with our labour organisations and families. This is how we will protect our rights and our mental health and ensure we are getting fair pay and treatment…We are reminding all the industry stakeholders to take care of us. Do not just take money from our sweat and blood, but also pay attention to our welfare” - Edi Kasdiwan, former Taiwan-based fishing vessel worker and member of the Indonesian Seafarers Gathering Forum (FOSPI)

 

In a global campaign led by Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) and powered by migrant fishers who experience the issues firsthand, Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights at Sea has called on the Taiwanese government to ensure Wi-Fi access on their distant-water fleet. But the responsibility goes beyond the government.  

 

The Seafood Expo North America is an annual conference where thousands of global buyers and suppliers – importers, exporters, wholesalers, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, retail companies – meet for networking and business. The conference promotes and celebrates those who profit off the sweat and blood of migrant workers, and with the conference held in Boston this year, they weren’t allowed to forget it.  

 

On March 12th, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, along with other local and international allies, supported a rally outside the Expo to hold the world’s biggest seafood companies accountable for their role in the unjust supply chain. We were proud to join this worker-driven international campaign and to hear directly from workers who have suffered brutal conditions in effective silence.  

 

Now, we must continue amplifying worker voices and adding our own to the fight. Governments are responsible for enforcing labor protections, but so are seafood companies, and so are we.  

 

Sign this pledge of support now to support workers in the fight for safe labor standards, fair pay, and mental and emotional health. We know it’s not enough to be able to report violations when they happen – we need to stop them from happening altogether, and mandating consistent access to Wi-Fi while fishers work at sea is the first step in that direction.