The consensus, among concerned organizations, is that initiatives to improve the working conditions for migrant fish workers needs to involve workers, through worker organizations.  Workers needs to participate both in defining workplace standards, and in monitoring and enforcement of standards. But organizing workers in global fishing is very difficult because they are isolated at sea most of the time, and are vulnerable to captains and work supervisors while at sea. One alternative is to organize workers while they are in their home countries, during the time they spend at home between contracts or during the recruitment phase. Organizations based in home countries also have the advantage of being able to involve worker families and communities, who are not only the beneficiaries of worker wages, but are also impacted by problems experienced by migrant worker in fishing. In this regard, there is room for optimism: In Indonesia, many kinds of migrant fish worker organizations have been created by workers, including unions that sign agreements with recruitment agencies and place-based associations. These organizations have real potential, and some organizational challenges. 

This report thus assesses the potentials and challenges of different types of organizations in Indonesia, as well as identify areas of future research where additional information would be useful for working with worker organizations.  The report was prepared by members of the Work at Sea project and Destructive Fishing Watch-Indonesia staff, and is based on intensive fieldwork with workers, worker organizations, crewing agencies, and other informed people in Central Java and Jakarta.  It is also informed by discussions with workers in key ports where vessels go for off-loading, maintenance and crew change.

In recent years, the often terrible working conditions and low pay for most workers in global fishing has received a lot of attention from media, civil society groups, governments, and seafood companies. Most workers in industrial fishing are migrant workers recruited from global south countries where wages are low, with Indonesia being one of the main source countries for workers. They are paid very little considering the high value of what they produce, with about 500 USD a month being the norm. Depending on the type of vessel, they often perform exhausting work for long hours, as much as 18 or 20 hours a day; are kept at sea for many months without access to ports, unable to communicate with family and others; perform very dangerous work; are often given unsafe drinking water and inadequate or inappropriate food; and are targeted for mental and sometimes physical abuse by work supervisors who have racist attitudes toward their workers. This situation is not acceptable, and civil society groups, government agencies, the U.N., and seafood corporations have launched initiatives that aim to improve working conditions for migrant workers in global fishing. Working conditions may have improved for some workers over the past few years, but progress is very slow. At the same time, for many of workers, employment on foreign fishing vessels remains an opportunity to support their families, and so they keep on taking new contracts after returning home, with typical contracts being one or two years.

The question is then, how to significantly improve the working conditions for migrant fish workers?  Who should participate in these efforts and how?

The consensus, among concerned organizations, is that initiatives to improve the working conditions for migrant fish workers needs to involve workers, through worker organizations.  Workers needs to participate both in defining workplace standards, and in monitoring and enforcement of standards. But organizing workers in global fishing is very difficult because they are isolated at sea most of the time, and are vulnerable to captains and work supervisors while at sea. One alternative is to organize workers while they are in their home countries, during the time they spend at home between contracts or during the recruitment phase. Organizations based in home countries also have the advantage of being able to involve worker families and communities, who are not only the beneficiaries of worker wages, but are also impacted by problems experienced by migrant worker in fishing. In this regard, there is room for optimism: In Indonesia, many kinds of migrant fish worker organizations have been created by workers, including unions that sign agreements with recruitment agencies and place-based associations. These organizations have real potential, and some organizational challenges. 

This report thus assesses the potentials and challenges of different types of organizations in Indonesia, as well as identify areas of future research where additional information would be useful for working with worker organizations.  The report was prepared by members of the Work at Sea project and Destructive Fishing Watch-Indonesia staff, and is based on intensive fieldwork with workers, worker organizations, crewing agencies, and other informed people in Central Java and Jakarta.  It is also informed by discussions with workers in key ports where vessels go for off-loading, maintenance and crew change.

Purpose of the report and some main findings

The report seeks to inform the work of advocacy groups, migrant worker support organizations, and migrant worker organizations; to guide government policy makers in Indonesia, and government agencies in the home states and flag states for fishing companies who hire Indonesian workers; and to identify questions that need further research. The authors succinctly highlight recommended actions for CBA unions, associations, government agencies, crewing agencies and fishing companies.

Some of the main findings of the policy paper include:

1.      Two main kinds of organizations of migrant fish workers can be identified in Indonesia: those who sign collective bargaining agreements with the crewing agencies who arrange work placements with fishing companies based in other countries (we call these CBA unions) and those who do not sign collective bargaining agreements (we call these associations).

2.      There are, in turn, two types of non-CBA associations: 1) place-based support associations for workers and families based in hometowns and districts and 2) the transnationally-organized migrant worker union SBMI.

3.      CBA unions have the potential to influence practices that crewing agencies can control or influence and support workers in their disputes with employers. However, they face challenges related to both strengthening their connections with the workers that they represent, and acting independently from the crewing agencies with which they sign collective bargaining agreements.

 4.      Associations have the strengths of having strong participation by workers, having strong connections with workers and their families and being relatively free of conflicts of interest. But associations also face challenges and limitations for improving working conditions as they cannot directly address the creation of decent work standards.

5.      When it comes to policy influence, large CBA unions and SBMI can influence policy nationally and internationally. Smaller place-based associations have the challenge of having limited policy influence despite their strong understanding of the concerns of migrant fish workers and families.

Policy paper on Potentials and Challenges for Indonesia-based Migrant Fish Worker Organizations:  Now available!

The English version of the report has been posted on the Destructive Fish Watch website and can be accessed at the following link.

The Indonesian version will be available soon.