S2E4 - Hariyanto Suwarno (Indonesian Migrant Workers' Union) and Charli Fritzner (Greenpeace USA)
Organizing and Campaigning to Improve the Conditions of Indonesian Fishers on the Distant-Water Fleet
“Now after [migrant fishers] got knowledge from SBMI, they know their rights. And they have the bravery to ask for their rights on the ship. That's something that we are really proud of.” (Hariyanto Suwarno)
“Our [Beyond Seafood] fisheries project …takes the elements of environmental harms and human harms as one.” (Charli Fritzner)
In Episode 4, Season 2 of the Labor Link podcast, Judy Gearhart speaks to Hariyanto Suwarno of the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union (SBMI) and Charli Fritzner of Greenpeace USA.
In this interview, Hariyanto tells the story of how SBMI, Indonesia’s largest and oldest migrant worker union – Serikat Buru Migran Indonesia – came to work on fishers’ rights. He explains how in 2014 they responded to migrant fishers stranded in South Africa who had been jailed for their forced participation in illegal fishing. Many of those migrant fishers are still active SBMI members, helping to push the Indonesian government to create more comprehensive and better coordinated protections for migrant fishers.
Charli Fritzner from Greenpeace-US joins the conversation to describe their work with SBMI to promote Before You Eat, a film co-produced by SBMI and Greenpeace-Indonesia. The film shows migrant fishers’ struggles and desperation on the distant water fleet and the challenges they face to secure compensation when they return home.
Charli outlines Greenpeace’s campaigns for seafood brands to phase out transshipment and implement real human rights due diligence, and to increase retailer transparency in tuna supply chains. She also shares her enthusiasm for Greenpeace’s strategy to integrate social and environmental issues in their ocean campaigns.
Photo credit: Tommy Trenchard, Greenpeace
Before You Eat Film access: https://beforeyoueat.id/en-us
About The Labor Link Podcast
The Labor Link Podcast supports workers' rights in global supply chains by sharing personal stories and perspectives of the brave individuals organizing the workers who make our stuff. The Labor Link Podcast is hosted by Judy Gearhart of American University’s Accountability Research Center.
Series 1 was produced by Evan Matthew Papp of Empathy Media Lab with support from the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Season 2 is produced by Jules Taylor. Contact Judy Gearhart for media inquiries at gearhart@american.edu.
About the Host of The Labor Link Podcast
Judy Gearhart is Research Professor with the Accountability Research Center at American University’s School of International Service. She co-teaches a class on Human Rights and the Politics of Inequality at Columbia University, has served as the executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum and the programs director for Social Accountability International. She got her start as an organizer in Mexico and working for UNICEF and the ILO in Honduras.
About the Accountability Research Center
The Accountability Research Center (ARC) is based in American University’s School of International Service. ARC bridges research and frontline perspectives to learn from ideas, institutions, and actors that advance strategies to improve public accountability. Through extensive dialogue with partners and collaborators, ARC co-designs exploratory research that is relevant for their strategies and can contribute to international thinking about how change happens.
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