︱Road to Migrant Fishers’ Rights
governing fishermen hired domestically and overseas lead to wide gaps in
their labor conditions. Fishermen hired overseas are covered by the Act for
Distant Water Fisheries and receive significantly lower wages by comparison
and are not protected by social insurance.
The Labor Standards Act cannot be applied directly to foreign
fishermen hired overseas but a minimum standard for human rights should
be defined in the spirit of the Labor Standards Act. The Executive Yuan
should therefore examine the relevant provisions of the Work in Fishing
Convention (2007) (C188) of the ILO and conduct an inventory of items yet
to be implemented from the convention. Amendment of existing regulations
should be studied pending the domesticalization of ILO-C188 to narrow the
gaps between the Act for Distant Water Fisheries, the Labor Standards Act
and ILO-C188. Alternatively, the feasibility of specifying minimum standards
for labor conditions and dispute resolution mechanisms in standard labor
contract templates should also be considered.
Equal rights as enshrined in the ICESCR should not discriminate
against foreign fishermen hired overseas. The wages of fishermen hired
Guests viewing a photo gallery during the press conference for the release of the NHRC Foreign
Fishermen’s Human Rights Special Report.
088