The ILO organized a coordinated consultation meeting on its works on fishery sector in Indonesia. The meeting combined three ongoing, complimentary fishery projects: the EU-funded Ship to Shore Rights in South East Asia, the 8.7 Accelerator Lab programme and the USDOL-funded Improving Workers’ Rights in Rural Sectors of the Indo-Pacific with a focus on Women.

These three projects provide technical assistances to support efforts taken by the Indonesian government to strengthen its legal and policy framework and enforcement to protect Indonesian fishers in Indonesia and those working abroad on foreign fleets. These projects also supported social partners, aiming to improve labour inspection mechanisms, occupational safety and health (OSH) and working conditions of fishers and workers in the processing sectors.

“Fishing is a big industry and a big economy sector for Indonesia. The objectives of these three projects are in line with the priority of Indonesian government to ensure decent working conditions and labour law compliance in the fishing industry. Thus, through this joint, coordinated meeting, the ILO can strengthen its support to the constituents and beneficiaries as the key players in the implementation of these projects in the country,” said Michiko Miyamoto, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia, when opening the consultation meeting.

The consultation meeting was attended by around 70 key partners from governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, implementing UN agencies and other relevant organizations both online and offline. Dr Anwar Sanusi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Manpower during the meeting stated that “Indonesia is committed to improve working conditions of its fishing sector and to strengthen the coordination among relevant ministries and stakeholders”.

The meeting highlighted key progresses from each Project. The Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia emphasized its progress on strengthening regulatory frameworks and bilateral/multilateral policies to support migrant fishers and migrant workers, as well as the implementation of protections and empowerment of workers.

In line with its focus on the elimination of forced labour, the Accelerator Lab programme presented progressed activities on the enforcement of legal and policy framework as well as empowerment of workers and employers related to the prevention and elimination of forced labour in fisheries industry. Meanwhile, the Workers’ Rights project emphasized its progresses on labour inspection, particularly ensuring the rights of women workers in the processing sectors.

During the consultative discussion, challenging issues raised by the participating constituents included the urgent need for the revitalization of Southeast Asian Forum for Fishers, harmonization of existing regulatory and policy frameworks on fisheries industry, the application of occupational safety and health (OSH) as part of the companies’ culture, the improvement of labour inspection and so forth.

The consultation meeting concluded with the agreement on key programme priorities for the year of 2022. Some the prioritized programmes included the following:

Ship to Shore Rights SEA Project: Regional coordination to strengthen protections for fishers and processing workers through the Southeast Asian Forum for Fishers; support the harmonization of national laws, the development of joint inspection and the draft development of the MoU between Indonesia and Korea for Indonesian fishermen working on Korean coastal fishing vessels; and support to the unionization among seafood processing workers with a focus on women workers.

The 8.7 Accelerator Lab programme: Support the facilitation of some technical meetings on legislation reform; establishment of pilot labour inspection mechanism in fishing sector the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries; and piloting the detection of forced labour on board fishing vessels toolkit with Indonesian law enforcement officials.

The Workers Rights project: The development of Tripartite Strategic Compliance Plan based on the baseline assessment and sectoral study result validation; support the Manpower Ministerial Inspection reform; and capacity building for employers’ and workers’ organizations on the promotion of labour compliance and OSH, including gender awareness.