Technical meeting to discuss the development of a Good Labour Practices (GLP) Programme for shrimp and seafood industry to address child labour and forced labour

The ILO-IPEC organized a technical meeting with Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW), Department of Fisheries (DOF) and private sector members of the shrimp and seafood processing industry in Landmark Bangkok Hotel on 12 February 2013 concerning the development of a Good Labour Practices (GLP) programme.

The meeting was jointly opened by Director General of Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW) Mr. Pakorn Amornchewin and Deputy Director General of Department of Fisheries (DOF) Mr. Chirdsak Vongkamolchoon. The event was intended to review initial steps taken in 2012 to develop series of industry wide Good Labour Practices guidelines for aquaculture, primary processing and packing factories producing both for export and local markets.

The GLP guidelines are aimed at promoting existing laws and regulation on child labour, forced labour and working conditions and promoting generally a culture of compliance within the industry. They cover key labour rights but also address issues such as compensation, recruitment and occupational safety and health. Considering the high level of use of migrant workers in the industry the guideline give special attention to migrant worker’s rights and welfare in general.

In addition to review progress made the meeting was intended to advance discussions with the concerned industry associations of seafood processing industry to develop their own training and capacity building programmes supportive of the application of the GLP guidelines. Such programmes would be promoted and technically assisted by DLPW and DOF.

The GLP initiative is being developed in three steps.

First establishing normative base and clarifying existing rules and standards:

During the first technical review and drafting step the existing labour laws and regulations concerning the industry have been reviewed and a normative base to develop the guidelines has been established. Additional good practice messages and recommendations have then been developed to show that while respecting the minimum requirements by the law is a must, it is also possible to advance higher standards that allow for businesses to remain competitive while providing higher protection and welfare for the workers. This step that started in mid-2012 has focused on development of first draft of GLP guidelines for the primary processing sector for basis of discussion.

Second to organize private sector, TU and NGO consultations:

The second step is to open the GLP draft guidelines for consultations and inputs from Trade Unions, migrant workers groups, NGO and human rights community to ensure that their concerns and suggestions can be factored into the GLP guidelines. In the meeting on 12th plans were put forwards to organize consultation meetings in mid-March 2013 with Trade Unions and civil society organizations. The aim is to further develop the concept of GLP and to produce an advanced draft guidelines covering first primary processing units in the seafood industry (the so called peeling sheds). A similar process would be followed at later stage for other seafood industry sectors.

Third to discuss a process of dissemination of guidelines and to develop supportive training programmes:

The third step involves an effort to finalize and disseminate the GLP guidelines and associated help materials widely to enterprises and workers in the sector and to develop dedicated sector specific training programmes to support the application of the guidelines.

Such training programmes would allow for individual enterprises to check their understanding of laws and regulations, develop improvement plans and establish workplace cooperation systems involving workers in the process. The guidelines and associated training programmes are intended to be supported by best practices sheets, informative brochures and posters in Thai, Khmer and languages of workers from Myanmar. While some of the materials are sector specific, some can be used generally to improve working conditions in all sectors.

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ILO-IPEC Thailand

The ILO-IPEC project (2010-2014) in Thailand aims to address child labour and forced labour in shrimp and seafood processing areas and to help create an industry that is free of child labour and forced labour and offers decent working conditions and opportunities to Thai and migrant workers. Special attention is given to the situation of Thai and migrant children at risk of entering or/and involved in hazardous child labour. The ILO-IPEC programme is financed by the US Department of Labour.