Solidarity with Fishers

It is never easy for individuals to go up against large, well-resourced, and influential corporations like Bumble Bee, but a group of Indonesian fishermen are. This letter will be delivered to their legal team with a request to share it with them as a symbol of support and solidarity.

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, stand in solidarity with the fishers who have filed a human trafficking lawsuit against Bumble Bee. The lawsuit alleges that these individuals experienced physical violence, emotional abuse, untreated life-threatening and deformity-causing injuries, debt bondage, excessive working hours, lack of payment, and financial threats against family members of workers, as they caught tuna that was sold by Bumble Bee in the US.

Fishing is one of the most dangerous and isolated work places on the planet and an estimated more than 128,000 fishers are expected to be working in conditions of forced labor. Our ocean is being depleted by overfishing and destructive fishing practices to fuel the $350 billion global seafood industry. These two interlinked problems create a downward spiral for workers and our ocean, including causing adverse impacts for coastal communities globally.

We the undersigned 

• condemn human trafficking in the seafood industry – and in all industries; 
• stand for the rights of all individuals to seek justice and demand accountability;
• recognize that a healthy ocean and decent work are essential and inseparable;  
• believe in people over profits. Always.

In Solidarity,

SIGN HERE

UNIONS:

• Indonesian Seafarer’s Trade Union (SAKTI) (Indonesia)
• International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) (United Kingdom)
• Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (United States)
• The Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPN) (Indonesia)
• The Migrant and Informal Workers Union (Sebumi KSBSI) (Indonesia)
• The Union Of Indonesian Migrant Workers (SBMI) (Indonesia)
• Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union  (Taiwan)
• The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) (United States)

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS:

• Above Ground, a project of MakeWay (Canada)
• African Law Foundation (AFRILAW) (Nigeria)
• Amnesty International Taiwan (Taiwan)
• Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA) (Thailand)
• Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers (Canada)
• Azul (United States)
• BakauMU Foundation (Indonesia)
• Between the Waters (United States)
• BLOOM (France)
• Brighton Christian Climate Action (United Kingdom)
• Cape Cod Seafood Council (United States)
• Center for Coalfield Justice (United States)
• Corporate Accountability Lab (United States)
• Corporate Justice Coalition (United Kingdom)
• Cottage Codgers (United States)
• Dignity in Work for All (DIWA) (Philippines)
• Earth Ethics, Inc. (United States)
• Eco Church, St Dionysius Church Market Harborough (United Kingdom)
• Emancipate Indonesia (Indonesia)
• Environmental Investigation Agency (United Kingdom)
• Environmental Justice Foundation (United Kingdom)
• Environmental Rights Foundation (Taiwan)
• Fish Defender (United States)
• Freedom Collaborative (United States)
• Freedom United (United States)
• Friends of the Earth (United States)
• Friends of the Earth Neath Port Talbot (United Kingdom)
• Fundación Libera Contra la Trata de Personas y la Esclavitud en Todas sus Formas (Chile)
• Global Labor Justice (United States)
• Greenpeace East Asia – Taipei (Taiwan)
• Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Thailand)
• Greenpeace USA (United States)
• HEAL Trafficking (United States)
• HRWG Indonesia (Indonesia)
• Human Rights at Sea (United Kingdom)
• HUMANBE (France)
• Humanity United Action (United States)
• Inland Ocean Coalition (United States)
• International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (United States)
• International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) (United Kingdom)
• Keaka Conservation Trust (United States)
• Mothers Rise Up (United Kingdom)
• North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE) (United States)
• Ocean Defense Initiative (United States)
• Oxfam America (United States)
• Partners for Dignity & Rights (United States)
• Praeveni Global (United States)
• Responsible Sourcing Network (United States)
• Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (United States)
• Rinascimento Green (Italy)
• Sailor’s Voice Defender (Pejuang Suara Pelaut) (Indonesia)
• Scoda Development Community Based Organisation (Kenya)
• SeaChoice (Canada)
• SEBUMI (Indonesia)
• Sedane Labour Resource Centre (Lembaga Informasi Perburuhan Sedane) (LIPS) (Indonesia)
• Serve the People Association (SPA) (Taiwan)
• Shibganj Integrated Development Society (India)
• Sumatera Environmental Initiative (Indonesia)
• Tanzania Network Against Human Trafficking (TANAHUT) (Tanzania)
• Tanzania Relief Initiatives (Tanzania)
• Terra Advocati (United States)
• The Coalition for Aceh Sea Advocacy (Koalisi untuk Advokasi Laut Aceh) (KuALA) (Indonesia)
• The Freedom Fund (United Kingdom)
• The Human Trafficking Legal Center (United States)
• The Indonesian Women Coalition (Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia) (Indonesia)
• The People’s Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (KIARA)) (Indonesia)
• Transparentem (United States)
• Trash Hero Indonesia (Indonesia)
• Unseen (United Kingdom)
• Verité (United States)
• Werkgroep Natuurlijk Imkeren – WNI (Belgium)
• Women Rising Radio (United States)
• Young Sea Changers Scotland (United Kingdom)
• 台灣人權促進會 (Taiwan)

BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS:

• My Bougie Bottle (United States)
• Sole of Discretion CIC (United Kingdom)
• Southern Shrimp Alliance (United States)

INDIVIDUALS:

See here